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National

- Bangladesh deploys Army as unrest toll rises to 123

- Top-scoring NEET centres clustered in Rajasthan’s Sikar

- Airline systems working normally after global IT outage, says Aviation Minister

- Trump speaks with Zelenskyy, says he will ‘end war’, bring ‘peace to the world’

- 978 Indian students safely evacuated

- 29 admitted to hospital due to gas leak in Thoothukudi

- Two different income tests to decide creamy layer among OBC candidates

- DoPT denies service allocation to scientist with muscular dystrophy who cleared UPSC exam

- CBI arrests alleged mastermind behind NEET-UG paper leak

- ‘Left has critical role in creating a Second Republic of India’

- Opposition attacks govt. over UPSC chairperson’s resignation

- After heavy rainfall, inflow into KRS rises to 60,000 cusecs

- Five from Jamtara convicted of money laundering

- Kerala Minister seeks ₹24,000-cr. special package from Centre

- Chargesheet filed against 10 accused in extortion case

- ‘BJP will issue White Paper on Jharkhand population’

- Mamata invites Akhilesh to take part in Trinamool’s Martyrs’ Day rally

- Army chief attends security meeting in Jammu amid increase in militant attacks

- UPSC aspirants gain expert insights at summit held by Unacademy and The Hindu

- Karnataka High Court drops rape charge against man after allowing him to marry ‘victim’

- AAP announces five guarantees ahead of Haryana elections

- INDIA bloc organises march against rising crime in Bihar

- ED arrests Haryana Cong. MLA in illegal mining case

- AAP leader moves HC against BJP MP’s election

- BJP MLA calls for U.P.-like name display order in M.P.

- Centre rejects study that claims 11.9 lakh excess deaths during pandemic

- Compressed three-in-one social science book for Class 6

- Muslims back in Purola, with wounds of a hounding over a kidnap that never happened

- CPCB plans to check violations in plastic waste trading regime

- Mizo woman who killed a tiger with an axe dies at 72

- Union govt. reviews AES, Chandipura virus situation

- BSF officer, jawan dies from extreme heat during patrol

- Woman killed in balcony collapse during Mumbai rain

- India to consider providing ₹1,500 crore to Bhutan

- All things huge: jumbos, feast and the crowd

- Trump’s heir apparent

- A digital storm

- Spring of the patriarch

Reuters, Agence France-Presse

DHAKA

Soldiers patrol deserted streets as curfew imposed against student-led protests across the country ; Internet shutdown continues, text message services off; media organisations remain inaccessible

Widespread mayhem: Army personnel patrol the streets in Dhaka on Saturday.AFP-

Soldiers patrolled the streets of the Bangladesh capital Dhaka on Saturday, setting up roadblocks during a curfew imposed in response to student-led protests against government job quotas that have killed at least 133 people this week.

Internet and text message services have been suspended since Thursday, cutting the nation off as police cracked down on protesters who defied a ban on public gatherings.

Overseas telephone calls mostly failed to connect while the websites of Bangladesh-based media organisations did not update and their social media accounts remained inactive. “The army has been deployed nationwide to control the law and order situation,” armed forces spokesperson Shahdat Hossain said.

The curfew was eased for two hours from noon on Saturday to allow people to shop for supplies and complete other chores. Local media reported that it will last until 10 a.m. on Sunday, when the government will assess the situation and decide the next course of action.

In addition to the deaths, the clashes have injured thousands, according to hospitals across Bangladesh. The Dhaka Medical College Hospital received 27 bodies between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Friday.

Streets in Dhaka were almost deserted at daybreak, with troops on foot and in armoured personnel carriers patrolling the sprawling megacity of 20 million.

But thousands returned to the streets later in the day in the residential neighbourhood of Rampura, with police firing at the crowd and wounding at least one person. “Our backs are to the wall,” protester Nazrul Islam, 52 said at the scene. “There’s anarchy going on in the country... They are shooting at people like birds.”

Reuters TV footage showed armed soldiers surveying roads littered with stones and debris as shops remained shuttered. Trees and barricades were uprooted on streets where charred vehicles stood. Young men played football on a deserted road during the relaxation of the curfew.

Several high-scoring NEET centres found clustered in Rajasthan’s Sikar district

Maitri Porecha, Jasmin Nihalani

NEW DELHI/CHENNAI

Students from various organisations protest over the NEET-UG issue at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.file photo

An analysis of NEET-UG 2024 results shows that many students scoring high marks were clustered in particular centres located in certain cities or States.

The National Testing Agency published the undergraduate medical entrance examination scores of 23,33,162 candidates on Saturday after the Supreme Court directed that the data be made public.

Of the 50 NEET-UG exam centres which had the highest percentage of candidates scoring above 650, 37 centres are located in Sikar district of Rajasthan. A score of above 650 gives candidates a chance of getting admission in government medical colleges.

“Of the 30,204 students who bagged over 650 marks, and will compete for 20,000 highly coveted MBBS seats in government medical colleges, 2,037 bagged scores above 650 in Sikar alone. The CBI should definitely look at this anomaly,” said Krishan Sharma, the parent of an aggrieved candidate in Haryana. Dr. Sharma is one of the petitioners in the Supreme Court in the NEET-UG 2024 paper leak case.

A total of 27,216 students appeared for the NEET-UG exam from centres in Sikar, of which 2,037 (7.48%) scored over 650 marks.

“This is a very high percentage of students scoring top marks from Sikar. The national average is 1.29% (30,204 of 23,33,162) scoring above 650 marks. The clustering should be probed,” Dr. Sharma added.

The highest number of candidates scoring above 650 marks, a total of 6,697 students, wrote the examination at centres in Rajasthan.

Others who scored above 650 marks include 3,387 candidates in Uttar Pradesh, 2,835 in Kerala, 2,585 in Maharashtra, 1,582 in Tamil Nadu, 1,519 in Haryana, 1,422 in West Bengal, 1,406 in Karnataka, 1,369 in Bihar, and 1,326 in Delhi.

It is pertinent to note that 12 students of the 1,968 who appeared at the centre in Rajkot’s R.K. University’s Unit-1 School of Engineering, and another 12 of the 676 students who appeared from the centre at Ahmedabad’s Delhi Public School scored above a whopping 700 marks, making these two centres stand out. Gujarat is also under the scanner for paper leak cases.

Vivek Pandey, an RTI activist who analysed the data, said that other outliers include the Delhi Public School centre in Haryana’s Rewari, from where 22.73% of the 264 candidates scored above 600 marks; as well as the centre at the Rao Pahlad Singh Senior Secondary School in Mahendragarh, also in Haryana, from where almost 20% of the 448 candidates scored above 600. “Rewari is a small village in Haryana and it is surprising that such a high number of students bagged top marks,” Dr. Pandey said.

Data from 2023

Dr. Sharma added that while this clustering of high-scoring candidates was being observed in States like Haryana, Rajasthan, and Gujarat, it would be prudent if the Supreme Court also orders that NEET-UG data from 2023 also be made public so that comparisons could be drawn with the patterns seen in this year’s examination.

Airline systems working normally after global IT outage, says Aviation Minister

Press Trust of India

Mumbai

Taking off: Flight services were back to normal on Saturday after a day of chaos due to the outage.VELANKANNI RAJ. B

Airline systems across airports, which were impacted by a global IT outage on Friday, have started working normally, Civil Aviation Minister K. Rammohan Naidu said on Saturday.

The Ministry is constantly monitoring the operations at airports and airlines to ensure travel readjustments and refunds are taken care of, he added. “Since 3 a.m. (Saturday), airline systems across airports have started working normally. Flight operations are going smoothly now,” Mr. Naidu said in a statement.

On Friday, in one of the biggest-ever IT outages, an update of a product offered by global cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike triggered problems with Microsoft’s Windows operating system across the planet, hitting operations at financial sector companies and airlines while hospital operations got postponed and some television channels went off air.

Airports across the country witnessed chaotic scenes after the online passenger booking, reservation and boarding systems turned to manual mode due to the outage, resulting in higher passenger handling processing time and consequently hundreds of flights were delayed and many cancelled.

The reservation and check-in systems of most of the airlines, including IndiGo, SpiceJet, Akasa and Air India Express, are now operational, according to a source.

“Online printing (Digi Yatra) is convenient, which wasn’t happening yesterday. Everything’s fine today. Flights are on time. What happened yesterday was a network issue. No one can do anything about that,” said a passenger at the Delhi airport.

Trump speaks with Zelenskyy, says he will ‘end war’, bring ‘peace to the world’

Agence France-Presse

Washington

Unknown plan: Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed he would end the war very quickly, without offering details. AP AP

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Friday he had spoken by telephone with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and pledged to end the European country’s war with Russia.

“I appreciate President Zelenskyy for reaching out because I, as your next President of the United States, will bring peace to the world and end the war that has cost so many lives and devastated countless innocent families,” Mr. Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

The United States has provided tens of billions of dollars in military assistance for Kyiv since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 — though a Trump victory in the November election would put Washington’s continued support into question.

Mr. Zelenskyy confirmed the call, during which he congratulated Mr. Trump on formally becoming the Republican Party’s presidential nominee, as well as wishing him well after an attempt on his life . “We agreed with President Trump to discuss at a personal meeting what steps can make peace fair and truly lasting,” Mr. Zelenskyy said in a post on X.

“I noted the vital bipartisan and bicameral American support for protecting our nation’s freedom and independence,” he said.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly claimed he would end the war very quickly, without offering details as to how. His frequent praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin and reluctance to outright criticise the Russian invasion have stirred concerns among Ukraine’s allies that he would force the country into accepting partial defeat.

978 Indian students safely evacuated

Kallol Bhattacherjee

NEW DELHI

Since the beginning of the clashes between students and security forces in Bangladesh, India has evacuated 978 nationals who were studying in various institutions in Bangladesh, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has said.

The evacuation is part of security measures that the Indian officials in the High Commission in Dhaka are taking to ensure the safety of around 8,000 Indian students.

An MEA press note has informed that Indian officials are also assisting students from Nepal and Bhutan to leave Bangladesh as educational institutions have shut indefinitely in view of the ongoing clashes.

Indian officials are coordinating with airline companies and law enforcement officials in the violence-hit country to evacuate Indian nationals from Dhaka and Chittagong airports.

Security arrangements

“Security escorts have also been arranged, where necessary, for their travel by road during repatriation through select land ports,” the MEA said in the press note. Officials said more students were crossing through land ports on Saturday evening.

The U.S. State Department has announced that the “situation is extremely volatile and unpredictable” adding that the “U.S. Embassy Dhaka continues to offer only limited services at this time”.

29 admitted to hospitals after gas leak in T.N. seafood unit

The Hindu Bureau

THOOTHUKUDI

Operation of the plant based on the outskirts of Thoothukudi has been suspended following the minor gas leakage even as officials are inspecting the unit employing 300 workers, mostly women

Officials including those from the Health Department checking the health condition of those undergoing treatment in private hospitals in Thoothukudi on Saturday. Special arrangement. Special Arrangement

Twenty nine women workers of a seafood processing unit experienced “moderate breathing problems” around Friday midnight, following a gas leak at the plant located on the outskirts of Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu, officials said.

Of them, 22 women undergoing treatment at three private hospitals in the town are safe and stable, while seven have been discharged after being administered first-aid.

Operation of the plant has been suspended following the “minor gas leakage”, even as officials from various departments inspected the unit employing 300 workers, mostly women, at Pudur Pandiapuram on Thoothukudi-Madurai Highway.

After processing and packing the seafood, the workers had dinner around 11.10 p.m. on Friday. Just then, they felt “suffocation and burning sensation in the eyes” after “white-coloured smoke” partially engulfed the dining hall. All 29 workers – 21 from Kumbakonam and 8 from Odisha – were rushed to three private hospitals in Thoothukudi town.

“While four of them are under observation in the intensive care unit, others are in the general ward where treatment is on to neutralise the toxicity caused by the gas. All are stable,” said officials attached to the Department of Public Health, who visited the victims in the hospitals.

An official said the “gas leak” was caused by a suspected short circuit in the cooling unit. “

After inhaling the gas, the workers were affected and hence rushed to three hospitals; six of them returned immediately after first-aid,” the official claimed. He categorically denied that ammonia leakage had caused the problem.

Five fire tenders that arrived at the spot and doused the gas leakage with water and cleared the gas by 2 p.m. zTwo firefighters also suffered suffocation and were admitted to the hospital for treatment. They are stable now, the officials said.

The Public Health Department officials said that the victims did not have the smell of ammonia on them when they were brought to the hospital.

“We can rule out the suspicion of ammonia leak only after the joint spot inspection to be carried out by officials drawn from various departments, including Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, Revenue, Police, Labour Welfare, Public Health and Fire and Rescue Services departments,” said a senior public health department official.

Two different income tests to decide creamy layer among OBC candidates

Abhinay Lakshman

NEW DELHI

Several OBC candidates have highlighted how they were denied reservation benefits.

A series of contradictory positions taken over the past few years has obscured how the Union government determines which candidates from Other Backward Class (OBC) communities can be allowed to claim reservations for jobs in civil services.

When the OBC quota was introduced in 1993, a guiding charter was created to exclude candidates whose families had accumulated certain social and economic privileges over the years, known as the creamy layer. This will then allow reservation benefits only for those declared as “non-creamy layer”, or NCL, candidates, based on several criteria, including a crucial income or wealth test.

Now, it has emerged that the Department of Personnel and Training has been applying two different income tests to different categories of OBC candidates.

The tangle of regulations governing the OBC quota has come into the spotlight with the current row over Puja Khedkar whose OBC-NCL certificate has come under scrutiny. Given that she is a medical doctor and her father is a retired civil servant who contested the recent Lok Sabha election, filing a candidate affidavit which valued his assets at over ₹40 crore, questions have arisen about how she could be given “non-creamy layer” status.

In the wake of this case, several OBC candidates have taken to social media to highlight how they were denied reservation benefits because of irregularities in the application of the income test.

The DoPT’s 1993 charter had declared some OBC families ineligible based on their occupations. Thus, children of people in constitutional posts, senior Central and State government employees, members of the armed forces, and property owners supposedly could not get the OBC quota for civil services. Exceptions were carved out of these exclusions: for instance, children of MPs and MLAs; government officials who have been promoted, not hired, into senior positions; owners of unirrigated agricultural land, and others are all now eligible for OBC quotas, subject to a parental annual income limit of ₹8 lakh or the prescribed wealth test.

However, the DoPT has discriminated in terms of how this income test is applied. Only the exempted cases mentioned above are allowed to exclude their parents’ salaries and agricultural income from the prescribed limit. For other OBC candidates whose parents are salaried professionals, business owners, farmers, or simply not part of the initial exclusions, the ₹8 lakh limit includes parental salaries. The DoPT explained these dual standards in an October 2020 affidavit filed in the Supreme Court.

This seems to contradict what the Social Justice Ministry told Parliament in December 2019 that there is only one income test for OBC candidates, which excludes income from salaries and agriculture. In December 2021, the government told the Supreme Court that the OBC income test excluded such income for all candidates while arguing that the income test for the economically weaker section quota was more stringent.

The court is yet to decide whether the DoPT’s explanation on excluding parents’ salaries and agricultural income applies to the income test for categories of OBCs. The next hearing is on August 22.

DoPT denies service allocation to scientist with muscular dystrophy who cleared UPSC exam

Vijaita Singh

NEW DELHI

Kartik Kansal

A 28-year-old scientist with muscular dystrophy who cracked the Civil Services Examination on four occasions has moved the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) after the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) declined to allocate any service to him. The DoPT informed the tribunal that the candidate does not fulfil the physical standards required for the service.

Kartik Kansal, who works for the Indian Space Research Organisation, has been using a wheelchair since the age of 12 and taught himself to write after his muscles weakened. Mr. Kansal is a resident of Uttarakhand and a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee.

Mr. Kansal’s case is in stark contrast to that of trainee Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Puja Khedkar who faces a criminal case for allegedly forging documents and misusing the quota available to people with benchmark disabilities (PwBD) to get into the service.

Ms. Khedkar could continue in her job despite a Central Administrative Tribunal ruling in 2023 that her candidature was liable to be cancelled as she failed to appear before a Medical Board at the AIIMS, Delhi, on six occasions to confirm her disability under “visually impaired and mental illness” criteria. She appeared for the examination again in 2022, secured a rank of 821 and got entry into the IAS by changing the disability criteria to “visually impaired and hearing loss”.

A Medical Board at the AIIMS declared her disability to be 47% – above the 40% criteria – after which the DoPT allotted her the IAS. The DoPT was a respondent in the CAT petition filed by Ms. Khedkar.

According to the CSE-2021 notification for which Mr. Kansal appeared, 22 out of total 712 vacancies were reserved for PwBD candidates.

In 2021, Mr. Kansal secured a rank of 271; yet, he was denied service though, according to the petition, he was eligible to be allotted the Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax).

Sanjeev Gupta, a retired IAS officer who is pursuing Mr. Kansal’s case with the authorities, said “grave injustice” had been done. “The Medical Board at AIIMS certified 90% muscular dystrophy in the certificate that was sent to the DoPT. However, after Mr. Kansal moved CAT when he was denied any service allocation, the DoPT responded that he had cerebral palsy and does not fulfil the physical eligibility criteria. He met the ‘sitting, seeing, reading, writing and communication criteria’ for the IRS. The DoPT should correct its mistake and not drag the case to the tribunal as it has erred in reading the documents,” he said.

Mr. Kansal cracked the examinations in 2019, 2022 and 2023 as well. The CAT is expected to hear the petition in August.

CBI arrests three more in NEET paper leak case

Amit Bhelari

Patna

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday arrested a B.Tech. graduate and two MBBS students who allegedly helped candidates in solving the leaked question paper of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for undergraduate medical courses.

Shashi Kumar Paswan, alias Paasu, believed to be a key player in the paper leak case, is a graduate from the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Jamshedpur, while Kumar Mangla Bishnoi is a second-year MBBS student in Bharatpur of Rajasthan, and Deependra Kumar a first-year student.

Sources said that Mr. Paswan was arrested in Patna, while the two students were detained from the outskirts of Patna.

CBI sources said that Mr. Paswan was a close associate of Rakesh Ranjan, alias Rocky, who is already in custody for allegedly arranging MBBS students from Patna and Ranchi to solve the leaked question paper. Mr. Bishnoi and Mr. Kumar have been arrested on the allegation that they were present in Patna, along with other “solvers”, on the morning of May 5 to give answers to the leaked questions.

Some 20 aspirants, along with many “solvers”, were present at a play school in the Khemnichak locality of Patna where they were asked to memorise the answers.

All of them reportedly left the school in the early hours of May 5 and went straight to different examination centres.

Mr. Paswan is the second NIT, Jamshedpur graduate to be arrested in the case. Earlier, the CBI arrested Pankaj Kumar, alias Aditya, a civil engineer from the same institute, for allegedly stealing the NEET-UG paper from the National Testing Agency’s trunk in Hazaribagh.

In the past two days, the CBI arrested five MBBS students from Patna and Ranchi. An investigation is on to determine the time of the question paper leak.

‘Left has critical role in creating a Second Republic of India’

The Hindu Bureau

Kozhikode

Yogendra Yadav

Political activist and psephologist Yogendra Yadav has said that the Left can play a critical role in creating what he called a ‘Second Republic of India’.

He was delivering a lecture on “What it means to be the Left in India” in Kozhikode on Saturday.

He claimed that the Republic of India, inaugurated on January 26, 1950, was over in 2019; the Second Republic was yet to be born, and the citizens were in “no man’s land”. “The 2024 election has not taken us to a wonderful Second Republic. But, fortunately, it has saved us from the worst nightmare of what that Second Republic could have been.This is a critical moment to shape India, not just for the next five years, but for the next few decades. The Left can play a critical role in this moment, provided we redraw the boundaries of the community that goes by the name Left and reorient this community to the historic task that awaits us,” he said.

Mr. Yadav said that if being on the Left was about offering resistance to dominance, it should oppose the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s political ideology, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s personality, and the BJP’s politics. “The politics of radical democratic republicanism has to be the politics of the Left today. Republicanism is about creating a community of equal citizens. Those who do not believe in democratic means cannot be part of today’s understanding of what is Left and radical,” he said.

Opposition attacks govt. over UPSC chairperson’s resignation

The Hindu Bureau

NEW DELHI

A day after The Hindu reported that Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) chairperson Manoj Soni has resigned from the post, five years before his tenure comes to an end in 2029, the Opposition parties questioned the government’s silence over the issue. The Congress alleged that Mr. Soni has apparently been “nudged out” given the current controversy in which the Commission has been affected.

The Hindu reported on Saturday that the UPSC chairperson had resigned for “personal reasons” a month ago. The resignation came amid the controversy surrounding trainee IAS officer Puja Khedkar.

‘Institutional takeover’

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that the BJP and RSS are systematically indulging in an institutional takeover of India’s constitutional bodies, thereby damaging their reputation, integrity and autonomy.

“Numerous cases of unqualified individuals faking caste and medical certificates seemed to have duped a ‘foolproof’ system,” Mr. Kharge said in a post on X.

This is a direct affront to the genuine aspirations of lakhs of aspirants, including SC, ST, OBC, EWS candidates who work hard for the civil services examinations, he said.

“It is disconcerting how the UPSC Chairperson has resigned prematurely, five years before his term ends. Why was his resignation kept secret for a month? Is there any connection between the numerous scandals and the resignation?” Mr. Kharge asked adding that the ‘blue-eyed-gem’ of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was brought in from Gujarat and promoted to being the Chairperson of UPSC.

After heavy rainfall, inflow into KRS rises to 60,000 cusecs

The Hindu Bureau

MYSURU

The inflow into the Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS), near Mysuru, increased to over 60,000 cusecs on Saturday even as the reservoir is fast approaching its maximum level. The inflow on Saturday was 60,224 cusecs and the reservoir level was 121.40 ft as against the maximum level of 124.8 ft.

The Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Ltd. (CNNL) has commenced water release from KRS and the initial outflow was around 15,000 cusecs at 8 a.m. which increased to 17,795 cusecs by 8 p.m. and it was further stepped up to 35,000 cusecs at 8.30 p.m.

The inflow into the reservoir breached the 60,000 cusecs because of copious rains in the catchment area of the Cauvery and its tributaries in Kodagu during the week.

But the effect of heavy to very heavy rains in the catchment areas, including Bhagamandala, the birth place of Cauvery, during the week is expected to last a few more days as the water meanders to reach the reservoir. Besides, the crest gates of Hemavathi reservoir in Gorur in Hassan district was also opened on Friday night and this is expected to augment the inflow into KRS.

Five from Jamtara convicted of money laundering

Devesh K. Pandey, Amit Bhelari

New Delhi

A special Ranchi court on Saturday convicted five alleged cyber criminals hailing from Jharkhand’s Jamtara on money laundering charges. The quantum of sentence will be pronounced on Tuesday.

The case is being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Those held guilty under various provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act are Ganesh Mandal, 51; his son Pradeep Kumar Mandal, 30; Santosh Mandal, 51; and his sons Pintu Mandal, 33; and Ankush Kumar Mandal, 27; who are from Mirga village in Jamtara, which had recently gained notoriety for being a hub of cybercrime. They have been taken into custody.

They are among a large number of cyber criminals in Jamtara who have either been arrested or are wanted by various probe agencies for cheating hundreds of people by fraudulently obtaining details of their bank accounts and credit/debit cards, and illegally transferring funds.

Kerala seeks ₹24,000-cr. economic package from Centre

The Hindu Bureau

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal on Saturday voiced Kerala’s expectations for a better deal in the Union Budget this time, expressing his hope that the changed political situation in the country would pressure the Centre to pay more attention to welfare-oriented measures.

Topping State’s wish list is a ₹24,000-crore special economic package “to tide over the current liquidity stress by scheduling it for over a period of two years from 2024-25”.

Going over the wish list ahead of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget presentation, Mr. Balagopal said the State government has not plucked the figure ₹24,000 crore out of the air. Rather, it is meant to fill the gap caused by the cuts in the State’s borrowing limits during 2022-23 and 2023-24, he added.

Among the State’s demands include a ₹5,000-crore ‘special assistance’ for the Vizhinjam seaport project and permission to borrow ₹6,000 crore in the current fiscal.

Chargesheet filed against 10 accused in extortion case

The Hindu Bureau

NEW DELHI

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday chargesheeted 10 accused, including foreign-based ‘designated terrorist’ Goldy Brar, in the case alleging an attempt to extort protection money from a businessman in Chandigarh.

The agency has invoked various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, and the Arms Act. Goldy Brar’s close associate Gurpreet Singh alias Goldy Dhillon is also absconding.

As alleged, Goldy Brar and Goldy Dhillon had recruited the arrested accused persons.

According to the NIA, their associates were also involved in the procurement and smuggling of arms & ammunition, sale-purchase of narcotics, channelisation of proceeds of narcotics.

‘BJP will issue White Paper on Jharkhand population’

The Hindu Burau

PATNA

In election-bound State, Shah says infiltrators are taking away jobs of tribal people ; he promises to arrest decline in their population and terms Hemant Soren government the ‘most corrupt’

Poll bugle: Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP leader Arjun Munda during a meeting in Ranchi on Saturday. ANI

Senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday blew the bugle for the Assembly election in Jharkhand by addressing more than 25,000 party workers during a day-long State working committee meeting in Ranchi.

In his address at the Jagannath Ground in Dhurva, Mr. Shah slammed the Hemant Soren government, calling it the “most corrupt” in the country. He said the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and the Congress could “write it down” that in the Assembly election due later this year, the BJP was going to form a government in the State with a full majority.

BJP’s promises

He promised that if the BJP comes to power in Jharkhand, it will issue a White Paper on demography. “Instead of worrying about tribal people, a tribal Chief Minister has turned a blind eye to incidents such as ‘land jihad’ and ‘love jihad’. The population of tribal people is constantly decreasing. Infiltrators are taking away their jobs of but Hemant Soren is busy building a vote bank. If the BJP government comes to power in the State, a White Paper will be issued. We will return the land and reservation to the tribals. We will arrest the fall in population of the tribal people,” Mr. Shah said.

He said the BJP had given the State its first tribal Chief Minister, Babulal Marandi.

“I have come to tell Jharkhand today that the JMM runs the most corrupt government, ₹300 crore was found in the house of a Congress MP and ₹30 crore was found at the house of a Minister’s PA. The Congress should answer whose money is this? The Congress has such corrupt people and the JMM is also with them,” Mr. Shah said.

Talking about the performance of the BJP in Jharkhand in the Lok Sabha election, Mr. Shah said the BJP not only got nine seats of the total 14, the lotus also bloomed in 52 Assembly segments in the State. The lead of the BJP in 52 out of the 81 segments showed that a BJP government would be formed in the coming days.

Union Minister and Jharkhand Assembly election in-charge Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Assam Chief Minister and election co-incharge Himanta Biswa Sarma and Jharkhand BJP head Babulal Marandi were present.

“Today, Jharkhand is heading towards destruction and ruin. The meaning of JMM is – ‘Jharkhand Mitao Morcha’. JMM means land mafia, murder mafia and mining mafia. Our dream was of a golden Jharkhand but the alliance of the JMM and the Congress has made Jharkhand number one in cases of murder, kidnapping and rape. The Hemant Soren government betrayed the youth and women and deceived their dreams,” Mr. Chouhan said.

Mr. Marandi said the demography of Santhal Pargana had changed rapidly under the Hemant Soren government and the population of tribal people is continuously decreasing.

Mr. Sarma also raised the issue of population, alleging that Muslims in Jharkhand were marrying innocent tribal people, and that the second generation was losing the tribal status.

Mamata invites Akhilesh to take part in Trinamool’s Martyrs’ Day event

Shiv Sahay Singh

KOLKATA

Taking stock: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and others during the inspection of the venue ahead of the rally. PTI

Nearly six weeks after the Lok Sabha election, Trinamool Congress chairperson and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will address party workers on Sunday at its annual Martyrs’ Day event where she is expected to speak about key issues, including the party’s role in the INDIA bloc.

Ms. Banerjee has invited Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav to participate in her party’s rally and he is likely to be present at the political gathering. Earlier this month, the Trinamool Congress chairperson met Nationalist Congress Party (SP) president Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray during her visit to Mumbai.

With 29 Lok Sabha seats, the Trinamool Congress is the third largest party in the INDIA bloc after the Congress and Samajwadi Party. Sunday’s rally also provides a platform to the Trinamool leadership to outline the party’s strategy in future.

Abhishek to attend

The other crucial issues that are expected to be addressed by the Chief Minister involve the party’s second line of leadership, factionalism and rise of anti-social elements in the party. Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, who has been keeping away from active politics after the Lok Sabha polls, will also participate in the rally.

Despite the success in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls, the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal is facing issues such as withholding of funds for key Central schemes such as the MGNREGS by the Union government, and poor Centre-State relations. The Assembly polls in West Bengal are due in 2026 and Trinamool supporters are keen to hear a political message from the party chairperson.

On Saturday evening, Ms. Banerjee visited the venue of the rally to take stock of the arrangements. She said Mr. Yadav has been invited and if the weather permits, then he will attend the gathering. Trinamool supporters from several districts of the State have started to arrive in Kolkata.

“We pay homage to all those who laid down their lives on July 21 [1993], along with other martyrs of movements in the State... many believe that it is our rally but the rally is to commemorate the tradition of Bengal,” the Chief Minister said.

Army chief attends security meeting in Jammu amid increase in militant attacks

The Hindu Bureau

Jammu

Planning ahead: An Army convoy arrives at the police headquarters for the meeting in Jammu on Saturday. PTI

Army chief General Upendra Dwivedi joined top security officials here on Saturday to chalk out a counter-strategy to the increased attacks by militants who are holed up in the Pir Panjal and the Chenab valleys of Jammu.

General Dwivedi met top Army officials of the Northern and Western Commands, the J&K Police chief, BSF officials and the CRPF top brass at the Raj Bhavan in Jammu. Officials said the formation commanders briefed General Dwivedi about the recent spurt in attacks and preparations being made on the ground.

Militants have increased their footprint and stepped up attacks on security forces, especially the Army, in the Jammu division.

Eleven Army personnel, including a Captain, and a CRPF man were killed in multiple gunfights in Kathua, Reasi and Doda. All these districts had been militancy-free till 2020. Besides, 10 civilians were killed and 55 people injured in these attacks. The frequency of attacks increased since June 9 when a bus carrying pilgrims was attacked in Reasi.

Multiple anti-militancy operations are going on in the vast forest areas of Doda district. Nearly 3,000 Army troops, including 400-500 special forces, have been inducted into the Jammu area around a week ago, The Hindu reported on July 19.

Sources said all the security agencies had focused on “a coordinated strategy to fight militants, adopt a proactive policy and ensure the infiltration is minimised on the International Border and the Line of Control ”.

J&K Lieutenant-Governor Manoj Sinha hinted at adopting a Kashmir model to defeat militancy in Jammu, suggesting tough action against supporters of militants.

He said efforts were being made to revive terrorism in Jammu.

“We will not allow revival of terrorism in Jammu at any cost and adopt the Kashmir model to wipe out terrorism in Jammu,” he said.

UPSC aspirants gain expert insights at summit held by Unacademy and

The Hindu Bureau

CHENNAI

Civil Services aspirants learnt about various current issues and gained insights from leaders in various fields at the two-day virtual summit organised by Unacademy, an educational technology company, in association with The Hindu, on Saturday.

In a discussion on “Indian democracy in the 21st century: challenges and opportunities’, Congress general secretary and former Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan Sachin Pilot spoke on the political scenario, coalition governments, and the role of a constructive Opposition, and the entry of youngsters into politics.

Noting that the Congress would play the role of a strong watchdog and engage in constructive Opposition, Mr. Pilot said it would be a balanced Parliament with more debates. The success of a coalition government depended on the leadership and the intent of the parties, he said.

There were plenty of challenges in the country, including divisions being created. Mr. Pilot said the urban population and young people must be motivated to cast their votes.

On a question on the doubts cast on the integrity of the electronic voting machines in the recent Lok Sabha election, Mr. Pilot said it was the constitutional duty of the Election Commission to ensure such doubts raised were cleared.

Pointing out that bureaucracy and politics complimented each other, he said the bureaucracy was the bedrock of democracy, and Civil Services aspirants must realise that they had an important role to play in the country’s progress, he said.

J. Radhakrishnan, Secretary, Food, Cooperation and Consumer Protection Department, Tamil Nadu government, spoke on the role of an Indian Administrative Service officer, and challenges in disaster management and public policy.

He elaborated on his experiences in managing the situation in the districts and State during various natural disasters, including the 2004 tsunami.

Karnataka High Court drops rape charge against man after allowing him to marry survivor

The Hindu Bureau

Bengaluru

After the girl turned 18 recently, the family members want the duo to get married.

The High Court of Karnataka recently granted bail to a 23-year-old man to marry the woman he raped. The man is facing the charge of raping his minor lover, who turned 18 recently.

The High Court has now quashed the rape case against him with a condition that it may be revived if he leaves his wife and child in the lurch.

“If the issue is not compounded and the petitioner is released, the mother and the child would be left in the lurch... and it would undoubtedly result in grave jeopardy to the life of the mother and the child, who will have to face ignominy at the hands of the society,” it observed.

Justice M. Nagaprasanna, in his order of allowing the petition filed by the man, has also said that the court cannot shut its eyes to ground realities and permit the process in the criminal trial to conclude, as it is the process that generates agony till the end, which will completely mask the happiness of acquittal.

The petitioner, a native of Mysuru, was arrested on the complaint lodged by the girl’s mother in February 2023, alleging that he had sexually assaulted her daughter. The girl’s mother at that time was against her daughter’s relationship with the petitioner, whose family was ready for their marriage. The petitioner was 21 and the girl was 16 years and nine months old when the complaint was lodged.

After the girl turned 18 recently, the family members of the petitioner and the girl’s mother wanted the duo to get married.

AAP announces five guarantees ahead of Haryana elections

The Hindu Bureau

CHANDIGARH

Sunita Kejriwal issues ‘Kejriwal Ki Guarantee’ in Haryana on Saturday. ANI

Ahead of the Assembly election in Haryana, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday sounded the poll bugle by announcing “five guarantees”, including giving ₹1,000 a month to every woman.

The party is yet to fulfil a similar promise in the neighbouring Punjab, where it has been in power for over two-and-a-half years.

At a town hall event in Panchkula, Sunita Kejriwal, wife of AAP supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, extended the five guarantees of Mr. Kejriwal to the people of Haryana. The guarantees comprise free electricity for domestic use, free medical treatment, free education to people, ₹1,000 per month to every woman in the State, and employment for youth.

The Assembly election is due this year.

Addressing the gathering, Ms. Kejriwal said: “We will work on building mohalla clinics in every village and every city. Government hospitals will be made better and everyone will get free treatment. Also, government schools will be made better and free education will be provided. We will also give ₹1,000 every month to women. Besides, we will provide employment to every unemployed youth.”

Hitting out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), she said Mr. Kejriwal had done phenomenal development work and that was why Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “jealous” of him.

Reacting sharply to the AAP’s poll guarantees, Leader of the Opposition in Punjab Assembly and Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa said these promises and guarantees are nothing more than hogwash. “They have failed to fulfil their guarantees in Punjab — be it providing ₹1,000 to women or employment to youth,” he told The Hindu.

INDIA bloc organises march against rising crime in Bihar

The Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc staged a protest march across Bihar against the rising crime rate in the State. Six parties led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal submitted a memorandum to Bihar Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar and district magistrates of all 38 districts regarding the “failed” law and order in the State. Holding their respective party flags and posters, the INDIA bloc leaders raised slogans against the government at the Income Tax crossing. State Congress chief Akhilesh Singh said the matter will also be raised in the upcoming Bihar Assembly session.

ED arrests Haryana Cong. MLA in illegal mining case

Press Trust of India

Gurugram/Ambala

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Haryana Congress MLA Surender Panwar on Saturday in an illegal mining-linked money-laundering case, official sources said.

The MLA was taken into custody in Gurugram and was produced before a special PMLA court in Ambala which sent him to the ED custody till July 29.

The money-laundering case stems from several FIRs registered by the Haryana Police for probing alleged illegal mining of boulders, gravel and sand that took place in the past in Yamunanagar and nearby districts despite a ban imposed by the NGT.

According to ED estimates, the alleged illegal mining generated slush funds of ₹400-500 crore in the past few years.

AAP leader moves HC against BJP MP’s election

The Hindu Bureau

New Delhi

AAP leader Somnath Bharti on Saturday moved the Delhi High Court, challenging the election of BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj, citing alleged corrupt practices. Both had contested the Lok Sabha poll from the New Delhi constituency.

“The petitioner secured 3,74,815 votes and [Ms.] Swaraj secured 4,53,185 votes as per the returning officer,” the plea said. However, it added that on May 25, Mr. Bharti had seen Ms. Swaraj’s booth agents showing pamphlets displaying her ballot number, photo, election symbol, and photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking them to vote for her.

BJP MLA calls for U.P.-like name display order in M.P.

BJP MLA Ramesh Mendola on Saturday wrote to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav urging him to issue an order to make it mandatory for business establishments and shops in the State to display the owners’ name, joining the ongoing controversy over a similar order by the Uttar Pradesh government for eateries on the Kanwar Yatra route. Mr. Mendola said displaying their names will make them “feel proud” and encourage a “healthy competition” in business.

The order by the Uttar Pradesh government, which mandates all eateries on the yatra route to display the names of the owners, has faced criticism from Opposition parties and some BJP’s allies, terming it “divisive”.

Centre rejects study that claims 11.9 lakh excess deaths during pandemic

The Hindu Bureau

NEW DELHI

The report, published in the academic journal is ‘gross and misleading’ ; the study fails to acknowledge India’s robust Civil Registration System, says Union Health Ministry

The Centre cites a rising trend of death registration and a larger population base in the following year.PTI-

The Union Health Ministry on Saturday dismissed a study reporting a higher number of deaths in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic in India.

In a statement, the Ministry said the study, published in Science Advances,a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science,was based on untenable and unacceptable estimates.

“It is strongly asserted that an excess mortality of about 11.9 lakh deaths reported in the Science Advances paper in 2020 over the previous year is a gross and misleading overestimate. It is noteworthy that excess mortality during the pandemic means an increase in deaths due to all causes, and cannot be equated with deaths that were directly caused by COVID-19,” the Ministry said.

The paper said excess mortality was greater in women and in the younger age groups (particularly 0-19). The Ministry, however, said data on about 5.3 lakh recorded deaths due to the novel coronavirus, as well as research data from cohorts and registries, consistently showed higher mortality due to the virus in men than women (2:1) and in older age groups (several fold higher in persons above 60 than in the 0-15 age group). The inconsistent and unexplainable results in the published paper further reduced any confidence in its claims.

“The study is erroneous and the methodology followed by the authors has critical flaws; the claims are inconsistent and unexplainable. The all-cause excess mortality in 2020 compared with the previous year in India is markedly fewer than the 11.9 lakh deaths reported in the Science Advances paper,’’ it said.

While the authors claim to follow standard methodology of analysing the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5), there are critical flaws in methodology, it said. The most important flaw is that the authors have taken a subset of households included in the NFHS-5 survey between January and April 2021, compared mortality in these households in 2020 with 2019, and extrapolated the results to the entire country, it said.

“The NFHS sample is representative of the country only when it is considered as a whole. The 23% of households included in this analysis from parts of 14 States cannot be considered representative of the country,” the Ministry said.

The paper erroneously argues for the need for such analyses claiming that the vital registration system in low and middle income countries including India is weak, it said. But the Civil Registration System in India is highly robust and captures over 99% of deaths. This reporting has constantly increased from 75% in 2015 to over 99% in 2020, it said.

Data from this system shows death registration has increased by 4.74 lakh in 2020 from 2019. There was a similar increase of 4.86 lakh and 6.9 lakh in death registration in 2018 and 2019 over the respective previous years. Notably, all excess deaths in a year in the CRS are not attributable to the pandemic. Excess number is also due to an increasing trend of death registration in CRS (it was 92% in 2019) and a larger population base in the succeeding year.

Compressed three-in-one social science book for Class 6

Maitri Porecha

NEW DELHI

1 of 2

2 of 2 We have tried to keep the text to a minimum by focusing on the big ideas. This has enabled us to combine in a single theme inputs from several disciplines Dinesh Saklani NCERT Director

The new social science textbook for Class 6 is a heavily truncated amalgamation of what was earlier three separate books for history, geography, and civics published by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

Students in Classes 3 and 6 are getting new textbooks. Class 6 students will get a single social science text, titled Exploring Society — India and Beyond.

The Hindu had earlier reported that the National Syllabus and Teaching Learning Material Committee was considering merging three books into one.

The heavily truncated new social science book has one entire chapter (Chapter 5: India, that is Bharat) dedicated to a discussion of the etymology of the term Bharat, citing references from ancient Indian texts such as the Mahabharata and the Vishnu Purana. Citing the Mahabharata, it says: “Interestingly, it lists many regions, such as Kashmira (more or less today’s Kashmir), Kurukshetra (parts of Haryana today), Vanga (parts of Bengal), Pragjyotiha (roughly today’s Assam), Kaccha (today’s Kutch), Kerala (more or less today’s Kerala), and so on.” The text features many Sanskrit terms along with diacritics, the marks used over letters to encourage the correct pronunciations of Sanskrit words.

Truncated content

The new textbook is structured around five themes. The first comprises 34 pages dedicated to geography and has two chapters: Oceans and continents, and Landforms and life, which starts with a quote from the Atharva Veda. Concepts such as measuring longitude and latitude of the globe have been culled from the current version. The total pages dedicated to geography have been brought down from 48 to 34.

The second and third themes on “Tapestry of the past” and “Our cultural heritage and knowledge traditions” consist of 46 pages with five chapters of history. These have been heavily cut from the 10 chapters in the older NCERT text. Chapter 4 is titled Timeline and sources of history, while Chapter 5 is about the origins of the term Bharat.

Chapter 6 on The beginning of Indian civilisation starts with a quote from the late B.B. Lal, a former Archaeological Survey of India chief who had led excavations at the Babri Masjid site in the mid-1970s and said there was no trace of any Hindu temple there; 10 years ago, however, he said there were temple pillar bases at the site. He also studied the Indus Valley and the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata, and is quoted in the book referring to the Harappan civilisation as the Indus-Sarasvati or Sindhu-Sarasvati civilisation. The chapter emphasises Dholavira, a Harappan site in Gujarat, and uses a cover image of the north gate leading to Dholavira’s castle area; in the old textbook, the cover featured a picture of Mohenjodaro.

Both the old and new textbooks contain references to Hindu texts as well as to Buddhism and Jainism, given that Class 6 students are studying about ancient pre-Mughal India. What has been culled drastically is the detailed exploration of the kingdoms of ancient India, as in the four chapters of the old book that have been deleted from the new. This includes accounts of the kingdoms of Ashoka and Chandragupta Maurya, including the role of Chanakya and his Arthashastra, as well as the dynasties of the Guptas, Pallavas and Chalukyas, and the works of Kalidasa. In fact, the only mention of King Ashoka in the entire book is a single word in Chapter 4’s timeline.

A chapter in the old book on Villages, towns and trade, about the tools, coins, irrigation, crafts, and trade of the period has been truncated. References to the famed iron pillar at the Qutub Minar site at Mehrauli have been dropped, along with mentions of the Sanchi Stupa, the monolithic temples of Mahabalipuram, and the Ajanta paintings.

“We have tried to keep the text to a minimum by focusing on the ‘big ideas’. This has enabled us to combine in a single theme inputs from several disciplines...,” NCERT Director Dinesh Saklani writes in the introductory chapter of the new textbook.

Muslims back in Purola, with wounds of a hounding over a kidnap that never happened

Ishita Mishra

New Delhi

Security forces deployed in Purola on June 15, 2023 following tensions over a fake report of an abduction of a minor girl.PTI-

Dozens of Muslim residents who left their homes in Purola in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand after communal tensions broke out in the town in June last year have returned. But they say the shock and pain, inflicted by tensions after two men were arrested for allegedly abducting a minor Hindu girl, remains.

Life will never be the same for them, they add. Many of their friends and relatives did not follow their path and have moved out of the town for good.

Almost a year ago, after rumours of the abduction spread, the police arrested Ubaid Khan and Jitendra Saini, a Hindu. They remained in jail for weeks, but were acquitted by a court in Uttarkashi in May this year. The girl had informed the court that she was not abducted, and the police had instructed her to make the allegation in her earlier statements.

“The girl told the court that she went to the Purola market and was looking for a tailor’s shop. She had asked for help from Ubaid and Saini and the two showed her the shop. The girl stated the two made no attempt to abduct her,” Halim Beg, the lawyer who represented the men, said.

Calling the alleged abduction a case of “Love Jihad”, fringe right-wing outfits stuck posters on shops owned by Muslims, asking them to leave the town or face the consequences.

They demanded a complete ban on the entry of Muslims into Purola, a town also close to Yamunotri Temple, one of the four important Hindu temples in Uttarakhand.

Sonu Khan, who runs a garments shop in Purola, says, “I had to sell my house fearing that we may have to leave town. I stayed with a relative for some days but later, one of my Hindu friends supported me and offered to keep me in his house. Even now, Hindu customers rarely come to my shop.”

His brother Sahil Khan has since moved to Vikas Nagar, 110 km away. “The rally taken out by my own Hindu friends against my community will haunt me forever,” Mr. Sahil says.

While the Muslim community in Purola tries to pick up the pieces, Mr. Ubaid is still in a state of shock, says one of his relatives. “His family had a furniture shop in Purola which they had to sell hurriedly. They couldn’t even get 20% of the value of the shop and its stock. His brother had to run from pillar to post to fight his case and now, the family is trying to set up another business for him in Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh,” he said.

Mr. Saini too has moved to Bijnor, says his advocate S.P. Nautiyal.

CPCB plans to check violations in plastic waste trading regime

Jacob Koshy

NEW DELHI

The Central Pollution Control Board has begun a national audit of nearly 800 plastic-waste recyclers across the country, The Hindu has learnt, after it emerged that four firms in Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Gujarat had issued nearly 6,00,000 fake certificates under the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programme.

The EPR scheme mandates businesses that use plastic packaging material to recycle a certain percentage of the plastic used in the previous two years. On July 14, The Hindu had carried a report on the issue and on the chances of many more fake certificates having been generated.

Separately, the Board has also filed a complaint with the Delhi Police against unknown “hackers”, for having allegedly stolen several thousand EPR credits from its online portal. The Delhi Police is learnt to have lodged a first information report (FIR) and is investigating the matter.

A senior official of the CPCB, who declined to be identified, explained that fake certificates were a result of “teething issues” because this was the first full year since the scheme was implemented and that there could have been a “lack of clarity” among recyclers on the mechanics of the scheme.

“This is a paradigm shift. All these years, companies had no mandatory targets and were alien to the concept of an online tracking system that showed how many certificates were generated and traded. While we are aware of the problem, it is akin to — say the early years of implementing GST (Goods and Services Tax) or filing Income Tax returns online. We will be keeping a track of EPR-filings by companies and in case of suspicious filings, we will be keeping a hawk’s eye. Errant companies will face heavy fines,” the official told The Hindu.

The official said an investigation has been on since last October. In the meantime, security features of the EPR-trading platform have been enhanced which required a major rehaul of the portal. Only after the investigation will it be clear how many companies traded in stolen certificates. The fines for the guilty would be worth “hundreds of crores,” the official said, though recovering these sums is usually a long-drawn process.

Mizo woman who killed a tiger with an axe dies at 72

A woman who became a household name in Mizoram after killing a tiger in self-defence in 1978, died on Friday affter battling cancer for several months. Zadingi, believed to be the only woman in India to have struck a tiger down with an axe, was 72. Reports in July 1978 said the tiger attacked her when she had gone to a jungle near Buarpui, her home in central Mizoram’s Lunglei district, with her companions to collect firewood. Zadingi, 24 years old and three months pregnant then, became a local icon of bravery and her feat was recognised by the President of India in 1980. Tigers have rarely been sighted in Mizoram since the 1980s.

Union govt. reviews AES, Chandipura virus situation

The Hindu Bureau

NEW DELHI

The Health Ministry on Friday reviewed the situation in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh after the States reported cases of Chandipura virus and Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES).

A total of 78 AES cases have been reported. Of these, 28 have resulted in death.

The Centre said on Saturday it will deploy a multi-disciplinary team from the National Centre for Disease Control, Indian Council of Medical Research and Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying to assist Gujarat with investigations into the cases.

BSF officer, jawan die from extreme heat during patrol

A Border Security Force officer and a jawan died during patrol due to extreme heat exposure at the ‘Harami Nallah’ creek area along the India-Pakistan international front in Gujarat, official sources said on Saturday. The incident, in which Assistant Commandant Vishwadeo and Head Constable Dayal Ram are stated to have suffered a heat stroke and dehydration, took place on Friday along the border, the sources said. The officer belonged to the 59th battalion of the BSF. The two were undertaking a ‘zero line’ patrol when they collapsed. The two BSF men were rushed to a health facility in Bhuj, but could not be saved, the sources added. PTI

Woman killed in balcony collapse during Mumbai rain

Incessant rain in Mumbai on Saturday caused a woman’s death when a portion of a residential building’s balcony collapsed at Rubinissa Manzil on Grant Road. The incident occurred at 11 a.m. when the balconies of the ground, second, third, and fourth floors of the building collapsed partially. A total of 13 persons were rescued by the Mumbai Fire Brigade. Earlier in June, Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority officials had declared the apartment building as dangerous, and unfit for habitation. The authority had also issued notice to the residents to move out.

India to consider providing ₹1,500 crore to Bhutan

India has agreed to consider providing ₹1,500 crore to Bhutan as part of an economic stimulus programme in the next 18 months, the two governments said on Saturday at the end of Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri’s visit and his wide-ranging talks with the Himalayan nation’s leadership. Mr. Misri reviewed the implementation modalities and cooperation in diverse areas of the India-Bhutan development partnership with his Bhutanese counterpart Aum Pema Choden. He also called on Bhutanese Prime Minister Dasho Tshering Tobgay and Foreign Affairs Minister D.N. Dhungyel. PTI

All things huge: jumbos, feast and the crowd

K.K. Najeeb

The annual feeding of some 60 elephants organised by Sree Vadakkumnathan Temple in Thrissur of Kerala drew a massive crowd as usual

Nourishing recipe: A medicinal concoction for the elephants participating in the feast being prepared at the temple kitchen.KK Najeeb

A feast for the elephants, Aanayoottu in Malayalam, is a ritual meant to propitiate Lord Ganesha, who, according to Hindu belief, removes obstacles in one’s life. Sree Vadakkumnathan Temple in Thrissur district of Kerala holds a mega Aanayoottu on the first day of the Malayalam month of Karkkidakam (mid-July to mid-August) every year, drawing a huge crowd of elephants and elephant lovers.

As many as 60 elephants from across the State participated in this year’s feast held on July 16.

The event resembled a miniature Thrissur Pooram; the only difference was that the elephants lined up without any accoutrements.

The temple premises was packed to capacity. The heavy rain did not deter the audience. Perching on the shoulders of their parents, children were trying to get a glimpse of the elephants. People also had the chance to feed the elephants. The elephants were allowed for the ceremony after fitness tests by veterinary doctors and officials of the Forest Department. Elephants in musth and those with a history of unruly behaviour were banned.

The eating marathon was kicked off after rituals. In no time, the elephants polished off 500 kg of rice, laced with ghee, jaggery and turmeric. They were also given fruit, sugar cane and specially prepared Ayurvedic medicine.

The jumbo feast at the temple started in 1982. The first time was for the elephants who participated in the parade during the opening ceremony of the Asian Games held in New Delhi that year, to help them regain their health after the long journey to the national capital and back and the parade duties. As many as 34 elephants were taken from various parts of Kerala to New Delhi on a train. The long journey made many of them sick and weak. The temple fed them nutritious food to nurse them back to health, a practice that has now become a tradition.

(Text: Mini Muringatheri)

Trump’s heir apparent

Varghese K. George

J.D. Vance The 39-year-old Republican candidate for U.S. Vice President, hailing from a working class family in America’s Rust Belt, has emerged as an ideologue and champion of Donald Trump’s right-wing nationalist movement

Millions have lived the life of precarity that J.D. Vance was born into in 1984 but rarely has the story of hillbillies — a pejorative reference to unsophisticated rural white population — been told like he did in his memoir published when he was all of 31, in 2016.

Mr. Vance, now the Republican candidate for U.S. Vice President, “grew up poor, in the ‘Rust Belt’, in an Ohio steel town that has been hemorrhaging jobs and hope,” he recounts in Hillbilly Elegy, a book that Barack Obama would recommend to understand the social upheaval in the U.S. by 2016, which was partly the result of his own ascent to the highest office in the country. Hillbillies were earlier labourers, sharecroppers, coalminers, and factory workers in later decades. “Americans call them hillbillies, rednecks, or white trash. I call them neighbors, friends, and family,” Mr. Vance writes.

They were once the backbone of U.S. manufacturing and largely supported the Democratic Party. As finance and technology sectors in New York and California, respectively, became the two poles of the U.S. strategy and economy, the factories in the Midwest, comprising States such as Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, shuttered and rusted; and the people there fell into despair and addiction.

Their link to the national life of America was increasingly limited to enlisting as soldiers for global wars that they grew to detest. In the run-up to the 2016 presidential election, their plight found a voice in national politics as Donald J. Trump and Bernie Sanders questioned the shared orthodoxy in the Republican and Democratic parties, respectively, on trade and war. Mr. Trump could turn the white working class grievance into anger and win the Presidency, but he barely knew the life of the dispossessed Americans that he was claiming to represent.

Mr. Vance lived all parts of that life, and managed to climb the pinnacle of elite education in the U.S., graduating from the Yale Law School in 2013. From 2003 to 2007, he served in the U.S. Marines, of which six months were in Iraq, in a war which he considers needless. Earlier in his life, Mr. Vance barely managed to avoid the fall into the abyss of addiction that surrounded him. Even today, on and off, he gets a call announcing the death due to overdosing of someone he knew.

Mr. Vance credits his survival to his tough grandmother — ‘mamaw’ as he called her — and his growth to a strong Christian inspiration. He could not “squander God-given talent,” and hence “had to work hard”. “I had to take care of my family because Christian duty demanded it. I needed to forgive, not just for my mother’s sake but for my own. I should never despair, for God had a plan,” he writes. His life is about what he escaped, as much as what he made of it — a remarkable one that fits into the stereotype of American Dream. He is white America’s answer to Barack Obama. He resented Mr. Obama and was inspired by him. He “gave me hope that a boy who grew up like me could still achieve the most important of my dreams,” Mr. Vance wrote in 2016. Mr. Vance’s portrayal of his life as member of the rural hill people and the working class has been questioned by various scholars and from different perspectives — which in progressive lexicon could be termed gaslighting. His book sold three million copies and was turned into a film. In the book and interviews, Mr. Vance comes across as a deeply reflective person, who honestly confronts the decadence, anger, frustration, and alienation, in his community and even himself, without judgement or bitterness.

Grandmother’s influence

Mr. Vance’s single mother had many love interests, and her addiction led him going into the care of his grandmother — a tough woman who read her Bible and feared her God, generally despised the church, liberally used the F word, and loved her guns. The grandmother was born in Jackson, Kentucky, and the family moved to Ohio for work. Young Vance would accompany mamaw during her visits to Kentucky. He still owns a cemetery plot in Kentucky where five generations of his ancestors were laid to rest, and that hillside is what Mr. Vance calls home. “I and Usha (his wife who is of Indian-origin) will be laid to rest by our children in that same place,” he said, accepting the Republican nomination.

“America is not merely an idea, though it is founded on strong ideas. It is home for us. Nobody fights for an abstract idea. But everyone fights for their home,” Mr. Vance, now a strong champion of American nationalism, told the Republican convention in Milwaukee in Wisconsin. Wisconsin, Ohio, Detroit and Pennsylvania, where Mr. Trump was nearly killed by an assassin on July 13, are key swing States that determined the outcomes of the 2016 and 2020 presidential contests by narrow margins. With Mr. Vance on his side, Mr. Trump hopes to turn it all his side this time around. “You are going to enjoy this ride,” Mr. Trump addressed Mr. Vance in his closing speech at the Convention.

Mr. Vance’s current political positions might be rooted in the life that he remembers. His grandmother had 19 loaded guns in her home when she died in 2005, one within reach wherever she stood. “That’s the American spirit,” Mr. Vance said in his acceptance speech. In her youth, the grandmother shot and nearly killed a thief who tried to steal a cow — a prized possession of the family. “There is nothing lower than the poor stealing from the poor,” she would tell Mr. Vance later.

Against illegal immigration

Mr. Vance argues that illegal immigrants are threatening the lives and livelihoods of the poorest Americans. He argues that new entrants into the community should be admitted on the terms of the current members — like the parents of Usha who immigrated from India. Mr. Vance is an opponent of abortion, and he will be questioned on this issue by the Democrats who hope to make it a key campaign issue. The VP candidate is a critic of U.S. aid to Ukraine, and aid in general though he strongly supports aid to Israel. He thinks the U.S. strategy should focus on Asia and China, and bother less about Europe and Russia.

The white world of Vance was very distant from the world of ‘white privilege’ that is often skewered in diversity discourses. Mr. Vance’s initiation into high society routed through Yale and was aided by Usha.

As the story goes, elite law firms would test the social skills of candidates before making an offer, often at a dinner setting. Mr. Vance, for the first time in life, had to make choices about wines, and figure out what to do with multiple spoons, knives and forks on the table. In panic, he ran to the restroom and called Usha — his “spirit guide.”

Mr. Vance landed the job, and now, he connects the world of wealth and privilege with that of the countryside. He counts Peter Thiel and Eric Schmidt among this backers. Mr. Vance believes communities cannot be rejuvenated by financial support alone, but they need leadership and organisation. Regardless of the election outcome, J.D. Vance is set to be a central figure in U.S. politics in the coming decade.

A digital storm

Sahana Venugopal

CrowdStrike The U.S.-based company says a defect found in a content update of Falcon, its security platform, was what caused the global digital outage

“Yesterday, CrowdStrike released an update that began impacting IT systems globally. We are aware of this issue and are working closely with CrowdStrike and across the industry to provide customers technical guidance and support to safely bring their systems back online,” posted Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on X on July 19.

The statement did not capture the hours of global chaos, fear, and frustration that preceded his words. That day, airports in India switched to giving stranded flyers hand-written boarding passes while airlines in the U.S. grounded flights. Shoppers in Australia could not carry out digital payments and U.K. hospitals had to cancel patient appointments. The outage also affected thousands of everyday users who rely on Windows or other Microsoft offerings.

The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team, CERT-In, issued a severity rating of ‘Critical’ for the incident. In the U.S., the White House said President Joe Biden was briefed about the situation.

At the centre of this digital mayhem was CrowdStrike, a U.S.-based cybersecurity company. Its CEO George Kurtz announced later a defect was found in a Falcon content update for Windows hosts, meaning Mac and Linux hosts were not affected during the outage. Falcon is CrowdStrike’s security platform. The company “quickly identified the issue and deployed a fix”.

Outage to outrage

The CrowdStrike CEO stressed that the incident was not a cyberattack as many had feared, though he warned that “adversaries and bad actors” could still try to exploit the incident.

While most might think of scammers impersonating CrowdStrike company officials, the incident was instead exploited for political gain. Users on X quickly found CrowdStrike’s pro-diversity messaging and its recent posts celebrating the LGBTQ+ community. Many replied with homophobic and racist comments, blaming the IT outage on the company’s DEI (Diversity, equity, and inclusion) policies. Some users also posted anti-Semitic abuse targeting Mr. Kurtz.

Founded in 2011 by Mr. Kurtz, Dmitri Alperovitch, and Gregg Marston, the company is based in Austin, Texas, and provides cybersecurity solutions across areas such as generative AI workflows, data protection, endpoint security, threat intelligence, real-life simulation exercises, and cloud security. Mr. Kurtz has held significant positions at McAfee.

On June 24, CrowdStrike said it will be added to the S&P 500 Index. The company has around 8,000 employees and operations in over 170 countries. CrowdStrike has worked with Intel, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Target, Amazon, Google, and the U.S. government.

In May, CrowdStrike announced the launch of its Falcon for Defender offering, supporting Microsoft’s Defender deployments, so that it could hunt the threats missed by Microsoft’s own security solution.

“CrowdStrike’s proven AI-powered detections, enriched with industry-leading threat intelligence, identifies the threats that Microsoft Defender misses,” said CrowdStrike at the time, noting that Falcon for Defender would deploy without reboots and would run “silently” along with Microsoft.

Despite the partnership, CrowdStrike markets itself aggressively and does not shy away from pitting itself against rivals — including Microsoft. On the company’s website, CrowdStrike says, “Microsoft’s security products can’t even protect Microsoft. How can they protect you?”

On July 19, CrowdStrike shares fell by more than 10%, but the company is still up by 100% compared to this time last year. For the quarter ending April 30, 2024, it announced a total revenue of around $921 million.

On the CrowdStrike website, Mr. Kurtz apologised to customers and partners, but only after users criticised the absence of a public apology during the early hours of the outage.

Others question whether too many critical companies, sensitive organisations, and governments are delegating their security and operational needs to too few providers.

Spring of the patriarch

Priyali Prakash

Paul Kagame The Rwandan leader, known for both his economic modernisation drive and repressive policies at home, won a fourth term in power with ‘99%’ votes

Paul Kagame, the President of Rwanda, won his fourth term as the leader of the country with more than 99% votes last week. The outcome of the election was never in doubt. Mr. Kagame, 66, beat his own previous record of 98.79% votes, which he polled seven years ago, to continue his three-decades long rule of Rwanda,

“The results that have been presented indicate a very high score, these are not just figures, even if it was 100%, these are not just numbers. These figures show trust, and that is what is most important,” he said after the election.

Even though Mr. Kagame became the President of Rwanda in 2000, he was the country’s de facto leader since 1994, as its Vice President and Defence Minister. Mr. Kagame is widely recognised for ending a genocide in Rwanda in 1994, in which around 8,00,000 people were killed by government-backed extremists.

Rwanda was already in the clutches of a civil war when a plane carrying the then-President, Juvénal Habyarimana, was shot down over capital Kigali in 1994.

Habyarimana belonged to the majority Hutu community, and Tutsi rebels were blamed for killing him. Hutu extremists killed Tutsis across the country for months.

After months of violence, Mr. Kagame’s Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF), which was founded in 1988 in Uganda, played a key role in ending the genocide.

Economic development

As the de facto leader since 1994, Mr. Kagame has championed economic development in Rwanda. One of the areas where the East African country has made remarkable progress under Mr. Kagame is the healthcare sector. Mr. Kagame is often credited for improving the standards of the country’s medical sector. His administration has emphasised building community-based healthcare services to reduce the “walking time” to the nearest health centres. The walk that previously took an average of 95 minutes was reduced to 47 minutes in 2020, the World Health Organisation noted.

Mr. Kagame also oversaw faster economic growth. Rwanda’s economy grew by 7.6% in the first three quarters of 2023, according to the World Bank, even though efforts towards poverty reduction had mixed results.

Through the Rwanda Education Quality Improvement Programme, the Kagame regime aims to improving learning among students. “The future of billions of children and young people across the world depends on overcoming the challenges of inclusion and quality of instruction, particularly as we recover from the pandemic,” Mr. Kagame said at the 77th UN General Assembly in 2022. Focal points of his government’s educational initiatives include digital literacy for all by 2035, and for Rwanda to become a high-income country by 2050.

The focus on economic development is only one side of the story. Critics accuse Mr. Kagame of being a ruthless dictator. In 2015, Rwanda amended its Constitution to allow Mr. Kagame to extend his rule by a seven-year term that started in 2017, followed by two more five-year terms.

A major blot on Mr. Kagame’s term was the blame for the death of Patrick Karegeya, who was Rwanda’s former chief of external intelligence. He was found dead in a hotel room in Johannesburg on January 1, 2014. He had fled to South Africa in 2008 after falling out of favour with Mr. Kagame’s regime and had helped found the Rwanda National Congress, an Opposition group in exile.

Reporters Without Borders calls Mr. Kagame a “predator” and says that even three decades after the genocide ended, “censorship continues, and self-censorship has become the rule, for those who want to avoid becoming government targets”.

Mr. Kagame’s alleged autocratic policies, however, do not take away from his seemingly positive imagery at international platforms. He is the current chairperson of the Commonwealth. He headed the African Union from 2018 to 2019, and the East African Community from 2018 to 2021. Rwanda also has significant female representation in Parliament, with 61.3% women in the Chamber of Deputies and 37.4% in the Senate.

Regional

- NTA has derailed our plans for the future, say small-town students with big dreams

- Boy infected with Nipah critical; health protocol put into place in Kerala

- BJD, BJP spar after Odisha govt. drops Biju Patnaik’s name from sports award

- Opposition leaders slam order for eateries to display name plates on Kanwar Yatra route

- ED makes third arrest in REET paper leak case

- Fire on cargo ship off Karwar under control: Coast Guard

- CBI moves HC against order letting Indrani travel abroad

- Jharkhand police use tear gas on teachers demanding raise

- As women favour period leave, many call for looking beyond policy

- A hole in Delhi’s green lung

NTA has derailed our plans for the future, say small-town students with big dreams

Ashna Butani

New Delhi

1 of 3 (From left to right) Animesh Kumar of Khagaria, Anjali Morla of Bijapur and Priyanshu Kumar of Sanhauli said they were forced to abandon their hopes. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTYogesh 2676

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Nineteen-year-old Priyanshu Kumar, the first-ever member of his family to go to school, had been harbouring ambitions of clinching a seat in Delhi University’s BTech course up until recently, but has since abandoned his dream due to the delay in the announcement of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) results.

“I wanted to leave my village and go to Delhi or south India, where the quality of education is said to be better and there are more jobs to be had, but now, I am considering shelling out ₹10,000 to ₹20,000 to secure a place in a State college,” said Mr. Kumar, who hails from Sanhauli in Bihar’s Khagaria district.

The results of the standardised test, which was conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) from May 15 to 24 to determine admissions to undergraduate, postgraduate and doctorate programmes in Central universities, were expected to be announced on June 30.

However, the NTA, which has been grappling with several controversies including alleged paper leaks in other examinations, has delayed the announcement indefinitely and scrapped June’s University Grants Commission–National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) altogether, leaving lakhs of students scrambling to decide their next course of action.

But for scores of students, some of whom are first-generation learners from marginalised communities, the anxiety is not strictly limited to securing a seat at a good college.

“It is all the more difficult to focus on furthering my education due to my financial constraints,” said Mr. Kumar, adding that he already wasted ₹1,000 to ₹2,000 on travelling to the CUET centre. His interest in technology was sparked several years ago, but the lack of awareness in his village limited his options. “I only got to know about the Joint Entrance Examination [for engineering] when I was in Class 12, by which time it was too late. That’s why I was depending on my CUET score,” he said. Although he has spoken to some people regarding admission elsewhere, he said it will cost a lot and won’t guarantee him a seat.

‘Wanted new life’

Familial pressure, too, has forced students to pursue alternatives they had not previously wished to consider. Anjali Morla from Bijapur in Chhattisgarh, for instance, has resorted to securing admission in Bilaspur University, but not in the course she had her heart set on.

“I wanted to study political science at one of the renowned universities in Varanasi and Delhi, but my parents have pressured me into taking up a BSc programme here,” said the 18-year-old, adding that had she got a seat at a more prestigious college, she would have been able to persuade her parents to take up the course of her choice.

Ms. Morla’s hopes of “living independently” have also been dashed. “I’ve never left Chhattisgarh. I wanted to go to a big city and have new experiences, but I’m stuck here now,” she said.

Sonali Yadav from Uttar Pradesh’s Fatehabad, who appeared for the UGC-NET, said the NTA’s move has graver ramifications for women students. “My family just wants me to start earning. They might be supportive of my education right now, but even then, it feels like a ticking time bomb when you are a woman from a small town,” she said.

While she admitted that more students are leaving her town to study than ever before, a discrepancy between communities still exists. “When I was younger, I would see my upper-caste friends get support to go out and study. Despite struggling and working hard, it is incredibly frustrating for me to be at a crossroads now with no concrete plans for the future,” she said.

In search of stability

Chavitesh Dongare, a government official working with the Samagra Shiksha education programme in Bijapur, said that while many students opt to become engineers and doctors, most actually dream of leaving the State to become financially stable.

“They end up becoming doctors because they have not seen enough of them in their district and want to fill that vacuum,” he said, adding that the idea of a retest is daunting to students from low-income backgrounds due to the cost of travel to test centres.

Animesh Kumar, who sat for the UGC-NET, said appearing for the retest, which is scheduled between August and September, will be a “task”. “First, we spend money on buying forms and printing admit cards, then on taking autorickshaws or buses to the centre. We are students with limited means,” said the Khagaria native.

The first in his family to get a college degree, Mr. Animesh wanted to fulfil the dreams his father, a driver, never could. “I wanted to do a doctorate from a Central university, but now, I don’t know,” he said.

Boy infected with Nipah critical; health protocol put into place in Kerala

Abdul Latheef Naha

MALAPPURAM

The 15-year-old is on ventilator support at Kozhikode hospital ; Health Minister Veena George rushes to Malappuram to oversee measures to counter spread of the virus; 3 persons quarantined

Health Minister Veena George seen with District Collector V.R. Vinod before a meeting in Malappuram on Saturday. SAKEER HUSSAIN

The Nipah virus scare resurfaced in Malappuram district of Kerala on Saturday after the confirmation of a case currently under treatment at a private hospital in Kozhikode.

A 15-year-old boy from Chembrassery near Pandikkad who developed Nipah symptoms and was shifted to Kozhikode from a hospital at Perinthalmanna is reported to be in critical condition, and is on ventilator support at the Kozhikode Government Medical College Hospital.

The pay ward at the hospital has been converted into an isolation block for treating Nipah patients. Ten beds have been arranged, with several doctors and nurses posted there, who have been asked to use personal protection equipment. Fourteen committees have been reported for surveillance, treatment, and other works.

Kerala Health Minister Veena George rushed to Malappuram to oversee the measures to counter the spread of the virus. At a press briefing on Saturday, she said the National Institute of Virology in Pune, and the State labs had confirmed the Nipah virus.

The Health Department authorities have also swung into action by putting in place the Nipah protocol. As many as 25 committees were formed as per the government-specified SOP to parry the spread of the virus. Three persons who had close contact with the child, including his father, were quarantined.

Feverish symptoms

The boy started showing feverish symptoms on July 10 and he sought treatment at a private clinic on July 12. He reached a hospital at Pandikkad on July 13 and was admitted there on July 15. Later, he was shifted to a private hospital at Perinthalmanna and then to Kozhikode.

The Health Department has also opened a 24x7 control room.

Ms. George said the department was well-equipped to take on the Nipah challenge. Monoclonal antibody needed for Nipah treatment is being brought from the Pune lab, and is expected to reach Kozhikode on Sunday, she said.

Masks and personal protective equipment (PPE) were being rushed to medical college hospitals in Kozhikode and Malappuram, she added.

Ms. George said the situation was under control, but warned the people to exercise utmost caution.

Health officials in the State advised that people wear masks in view of the scare. The Minister also kicked off a renewed safety drive in Malappuram.

It was in May 2018 that Kerala reported the first Nipah case, spreading fear among the people of Kozhikode. Since then, Nipah cases were confirmed four times in the State. The last case was reported in September 2023.

BJD, BJP spar after Odisha govt. drops Biju Patnaik’s name from sports award

The Hindu Bureau

BHUBANESWAR

The BJP held its State Executive Meeting at Puri. ANIANI

The Bharatiya Janata Party and its newly elected government in Odisha is set to undo what the ruling party is calling a “black phase” in the State’s politics — the 25-year rule of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) , now the principal Opposition party.

On Friday, the Mohan Majhi government decided to rename Biju Patnaik Sports Award to the Odisha State Sports Award, a change in nomenclature that hasn’t gone down well with the BJD, which accused the BJP of resorting to “narrow and vengeful” politics. The Sports and Youth Services Department notification also expanded the awards to eight categories from five.

“Late Biju Patnaik was a legendary figure in Indian politics. This decision reflects BJP’s narrow political perspective. It is unclear what the government hopes to gain by dropping his name,” said Arun Sahoo, Nayagarh MLA and BJD spokesperson.

In response, BJP spokesperson Sajjan Sharma said State awards, schemes or institutions must not be treated as the “personal property” of any single family. “In this particular case, the government has not designated a name for the award in any individual’s honour,” he said.

The ruling party, at its State Executive Meeting held in Puri, also accused the erstwhile BJD government of indulging in corruption. “During the BJD government, annually ₹50,000 crore was siphoned off in the name of 5T programmes. Education, law and order and safety of women collapsed. Twenty-five years of BJD rule was a big black phase in State politics,” stated the political resolution passed at the meeting on Saturday. “BJP has resolved to establish a clean, corruption-free, popular and competent government by remembering the black days of lawlessness and corruption-ridden regime of BJD.”

Party meet

The State BJP resolved that it was committed to fulfilling promises including paying ₹3,100 per quintal of paddy and gifting ₹50,000 cash vouchers to women. “The long-standing demand of opening of Ratna Bhandar [Jagannath Temple treasury] has been met. Minimum wage of labourers has been increased. And all other promises will be fulfilled,” stated the political resolution.

The ruling party said it was determined to transform Odisha into a developed State by 2036 when the State would celebrate its 100th anniversary.

It announced that 12,000 party cadres would work alongside the government to achieve the target.

Opposition leaders slam order for eateries to display name plates on Kanwar Yatra route

Press Trust of India

New Delhi

The directives by the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments asking eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route to display their owners’ names drew more criticism on Saturday from several political leaders.

In a post on X, former Congress leader and Independent MP Kapil Sibal said: “Kanwar Yatra Route. UP directs eateries including roadside carts to display names of owners! Is this the route to a ‘Viksit Bharat’?”

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, he said the politics happening over Kanwar Yatra is not going to take India towards ‘Viksit Bharat’.

“The Prime Minister, Home Minister and Chief Ministers should not raise such issues that lead to controversies. The common person has nothing to do with these issues. What will happen is that the row will escalate and traders will suffer losses. These will later be raised in the Parliament and issues of economic and political challenges will not be discussed,” the former Union Minister said.

People’s Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti also slammed the order, saying it is against the Constitution which guarantees equal rights to all.

Speaking to reporters in Srinagar, Ms. Mufti said, “Rahul Gandhi was right when he said that if they [BJP] get over 400 seats, they will destroy the Constitution. They have come to 240 from 350 seats, but they have not learnt their lesson, they continue to do the opposite of what the Constitution says.”

The CPI(M) said the order by the State governments was “unconstitutional” and aimed at communal polarisation. “The Politburo strongly condemns the decision,” the CPI(M) said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, who heads the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM), said he saw “nothing wrong” with the order that has been disapproved of by fellow BJP allies like Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) and Union minister Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas).

“What is the harm if people involved in businesses are asked to display their names and addresses prominently,” he said in Patna. “In fact, this only makes it easy for buyers to spot a favourite stall,” he added.

ED makes third arrest in REET paper leak case

The Hindu Bureau

JAIPUR

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested a man under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the Rajasthan Eligibility Examination for Teachers (REET) question paper leak case of 2021, the probe agency said on Saturday.

The accused, Raju Ram Iram, allegedly gave the leaked paper to his accomplices for distribution among the candidates. He was produced in the PMLA Special Court here on Friday and sent to ED custody for three days.

This is the third arrest made by the agency in its money laundering probe into the REET paper leak. It had earlier arrested a retired assistant professor, Pradeep Parashar, and his assistant Ram Kripal Meena in the case.

An ED spokesperson said here that Mr. Iram, who received the leaked paper from other accused involved in the crime, gave it to his associates and took their help to make arrangements in Jodhpur to “show and read” the paper to various candidates in lieu of a huge amount of money.

The leak of the question paper of the State’s biggest examination for the recruitment of teachers to government schools in September 2021, in which over 16 lakh candidates had appeared, had created a furore in Rajasthan, after which the then-Congress government had cancelled the exam. The State government handed over investigation to the Special Operations Group of the Rajasthan Police, which confirmed that the paperwas leaked from theEducation Department’s building, Shiksha Sankul, in Jaipur two days before the exam.

The ED subsequently launched a probe in the matter on the basis of FIRs and chargesheets filed by the police against suspects. The agency also conducted search operations at a total of 32 premises of accused persons in 2023, resulting in the recovery of incriminating documents as well as huge seizures of cash.

Fire on cargo ship off Karwar under control: Coast Guard

The fire on a merchant vessel off the Karwar coast has been brought under control after more than 24 hours but one of the ship’s 21 crew members is missing, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) said on Saturday. Three ICG ships were dispatched to conduct firefighting operations after it received a message about a fire onboard the Maersk Frankfurt at 2.10 p.m. on Friday after it caught fire about 102 nautical miles south-west of Goa on its way from Mundra to Colombo in Sri Lanka. The vessel was carrying 1,154 containers, including dangerous cargo like benzene and sodium cyanate, said the ICG. PTI

CBI moves HC against order letting Indrani travel abroad

Press Trust of India

Mumbai

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday moved the Bombay High Court against a special court’s order permitting former media executive Indrani Mukerjea, who is accused of killing her daughter Sheena Bora in 2012 and is currently out on bail, to travel to Europe.

A special CBI court had on Friday allowed Ms. Mukerjea to travel in intermittent stints to Spain and the United Kingdom for 10 days over the next three months.

The CBI’s plea in the High Court sought the quashing of this order, claiming it was “bad in law” and “arbitrary”. If she [Ms. Mukerjea] is permitted to travel abroad, there is a chance of her fleeing from justice, the CBI plea contended.

Jharkhand police use tear gas on teachers demanding raise

The Jharkhand Police on Saturday used tear gas and mild lathi-charge to disperse hundreds of assistant teachers who attempted to lay siege to Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s residence to press for their demands, an official said. The teachers gathered at Ranchi’s Morabadi ground in the morning with the intent of surrounding the Chief Minister’s house, and said their demands included “equal pay for equal work” and status as government employees. Meanwhile, a delegation of assistant teachers also met Education Minister Baidyanath Ram over their demands. The Minister assured them he would take up their issues with Mr. Soren. PTI

As women favour period leave, many call for looking beyond policy

Is granting special leave for women on their period a progressive idea that will encourage more to join the workforce or will it provide another ruse for employers to shun them? Jahnavi T.R . debates this question with a cross-section of women workers and members of a committee formed by the Karnataka government to frame a policy on menstrual leave

1 of 4 ILLUSTRATION: SEBASTIAN FRANCIS

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4 of 4 The participation of women in the workforce is already low. Why add one more factor which can lead to discrimination? Kathyayini Chamaraj, executive trustee, CIVIC Bengaluru, who is also on the committee

Sharanya Rao (name changed) is a 27-year-old lecturer in a private college in Bengaluru. She spends most of her days on her feet. “I have polycystic ovarian syndrome and hence, I have heavy bleeding during my periods. It is hard to go about my day as usual when I have my period. With such jobs, people should stop shaming women for wanting to sit down and or slow down because period fatigue is real,” she says, on the much-debated issue of menstrual leave.

The world of Prabha (name changed), who is in her late thirties and works as domestic help in at least three houses in North Bengaluru, is very different. “If I ask for leave every month because I am on my period, then I simply miss out on that day’s pay. I am not even comfortable telling my employers that I have my period, let alone ask for leave for it. Unless I have very bad cramps, I go about my work,” she says.

As a discussion is under way in Karnataka about the menstrual leave policy and legislation to implement it, different classes of women working in various sectors look at the issue through different lenses. But most agree that this taboo subject needs wider discussion and acceptance.

The Karnataka government has set up an 18-member committee,headed by Sapna Mohan, associate dean at the School of Law at Christ University, to study and recommend the feasibility of implementing a menstrual leave policy in the State, including the private sector, garments industry, and IT sector. The committee in its preliminary report has recommended one-day menstrual leave a month and the passing of The Right of Women to Menstrual Leave and Free Access to Menstrual Health Products Bill by the State legislature.

“There were a lot of deliberations in the committee about the terminology for this leave and if it should be called ‘menstrual leave’. This is something that biologically happens to women and it should be called menstrual leave. Most members of the committee are of the opinion that this should not just be called sick leave and should be exclusive to women,” says Sapna Mohan.

However, a few committee members expressed their disapproval of the policy. They argued that this policy could lead to further discrimination against women employees at workplaces. “While we welcome the government’s thinking in the direction of a menstrual leave policy, we want to take a balanced approach to this so that it does not become counterproductive for women. We are working out these modalities and a final report will be submitted to the government soon,” says Sapna Mohan.

Karnataka is not the first State to mull over this policy. Bihar has been providing two-day menstrual leave since 1992 to government employees, including contract workers,while Maharashtra is also considering implementing it. According to sources in the Labour Department, menstrual leave might soon become a reality in Karnataka.

Women-centric sectors

In a sector like the garments industry, where the majority of the workforce is women, there is a great need for menstrual leave, argues Prathibha R., president of the Garment and Textile Workers’ Union who is part of the 18-member committee. She says that around 4 lakh women in the State work in garment and textile factories.

While some committee members pointed out that with so many women in the workforce, a menstrual leave policy can work adversely for the employer and affect productivity if too many women take the leave at once, Prathibha disagrees. “The onus is on the employers to figure a solution to such a problem. It is highly unlikely that such scenarios might emerge. The garment industry is women and labour-oriented. They need women. But the women work with no casual or sick leave. They only have earned leave and national holidays. Providing menstrual leave will help women contribute to the economy in a better way and reduce presenteeism,” she said. Presenteeism refers to a situation when a person is present at the workplace but is not able to work to full capacity.

Several women in the private sector strongly advocate for a menstrual leave policy, stating that they often face menstrual discomfort in the form of heavy bleeding, dysmenorrhea, backache, nausea, and even low blood pressure. With most companies having a policy of one sick leave a month, women are forced to compromise on their other leave or work through the pain when they have their period. “Menstruation cycles are not the same for every woman. It can vary with different age and other factors,” says Ragini (name changed), a 46-year-old government employee in Bengaluru.

For all nature of work

“This leave policy will work great for women who have to commute long distances or do physical activities for their jobs while also benefiting those who work long hours at their desks. As a hybrid worker, I commute a long distance and also sit at my desk for long hours. Doing these things while menstruating is not easy,” says Kruthi G., 25, an IT employee. “Currently, there are many who are forced to take leaves from their personal basket or take a pay cut when the sick leaves are not sufficient. Having a policy in place will be good,” she says.

“By providing dedicated leaves companies can foster an inclusive environment and promote the well-being of female employees. The government will surely face some challenges while implementing this, but overcoming those challenges will help them provide a good future for women in the workforce. Acknowledging the physical discomfort and health challenges associated with menstruation is definitely going to be a good move,” says Sindhu Kashyap, 37, a private firm employee.

Representatives of the IT sector’s management with whom The Hindu spoke agreed that a menstrual leave policy will have a positive impact at the workplace.

“Flexible menstrual leave can strengthen representation by allowing women to manage their health without compromising their careers. Such inclusive policies foster a supportive work environment, showing women that their needs are acknowledged and respected. This approach should transcend sectors, promoting inclusivity and equity across all industries, and encouraging broader participation and career growth for women,” says Supriya Paul, CEO and Co-Founder, Josh Talks.

Just policy won’t do

However, a mere policy in place is not enough, many women workers say. The problem lies in the lack of awareness at workplaces, especially because there are so few women in decision-making positions even when the workforce is dominated by them.

Sharanya stresses on how even though there are more women than men in the teaching sector, the management is usually all male. “There is a lack of empathy which needs to be addressed and awareness is necessary about the seriousness of menstrual problems.” A shade worse is the scenario in the garment sector where many of them feel uncomfortable while seeking a leave from the supervisor when they get their periods.

The committee has taken note of this. “The employer will conduct training sessions to raise awareness among all employees about menstrual health and the importance of this leave. Managers will receive additional training to handle menstrual leave requests with sensitivity and support,” its recommendation states.

Along with awareness, the availability of menstrual products at workplaces is also an issue. While some women say that their office has a pad vending machine which charges ₹5 per pad, others say they can get a pad by asking the admin or housekeeping staff. However, in most government and private offices, menstrual products such as sanitary pads or tampons are not easily available.

The naysayers

However, some feel that menstrual leave may end up being counterproductive. “No woman menstruates for just one day. Then what is the point in providing a one-day leave?” asks Kathyayini Chamaraj, Executive Trustee, CIVIC Bengaluru, who is also on the committee. “The participation of women in the workforce is already low. Why add one more factor which can lead to discrimination?”, she says.

Talking to The Hindu, a senior official from the Labour Department says: “Even today we see that many employers remove their female employees from jobs when they get pregnant as they do not want to pay them without work when they take maternity leave. Now, such employers might not want to hire women if they have to give this extra leave every month.”

He argues that it is essential to think from the employers’ point of view also to ensure that women do not miss out on opportunities. “As employment is also very important, the government will take all the things into consideration before coming to a decision,” he says.

The committee members opposed to dedicated menstrual leave say that both men and women in the workforce should be given 12 days of sick leave a year (which is not the case, especially in the garment sector) which they can use whenever necessary. “Instead of having rules that the employees need to bring certificates from the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation hospitals when they are sick, men and women should be allowed to take up to three days of sick leave without such requirements,” Kathyayini suggests.

Out of ambit

Some have expressed skepticism that the unorganised sector will continue to be out of yet another labour policy. “What about construction workers or agricultural labourers who will not be included in such policies and will have to perform challenging physical tasks even when they have their period?” a committee member asked.

The domestic work sector — in which a majority of the workforce is again women who have to perform strenuous physical activities — can never benefit from the policy. “There is already a hidden rule in some households that if a domestic help has her period, then she should not come to work. But this is not from a health perspective but a ‘purity’ perspective. There already exists a cultural discrimination that women are not pure during those days and employers ask them not to enter certain areas or do some tasks,” says Geeta Menon, a representative of the Domestic Workers Rights Union.She says that women opting to take menstrual leave or any kind of sick leave for that matter, usually suffer a loss of pay and an increased workload the next day. “As long as the government does not recognise the relationship between an employer and employee in domestic work, the impact of any labour policy will be negligible on the sector.”

While its benefits for the vast unorganised sector are unclear, most women see the menstrual leave policy as the first step in the right direction. “As India looks to adopt new measures for assessing the well-being of its people, it is essential to consider progressive ideas beyond traditional thinking. This policy will be a significant milestone in promoting the happiness and well-being of nearly half of Karnataka’s population. In the light of these objectives and in accordance with the principle of inclusiveness envisioned by our founding fathers, there is a pressing need for such a policy,” the committee says about its intent.

A hole in Delhi’s green lung

Hundreds of trees being axed in the Capital’s ecologically sensitive Ridge forested area without mandatory permission from the Supreme Court brings back the debate of balancing development and environment protection. Nikhil M. Babu and Satvika Mahajan explore how this underscores government bodies’ disregard for both bionomics and court orders

1 of 4 Green cover gone A view of Satbari in Delhi’s Ridge area, where 1,100 trees were cut down for civic activites.SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

2 of 4 The exercise to be undertaken by the DDA is necessary for ensuring that while public work is carried out, minimum number of trees are required to be felled Supreme Court

3 of 4 Workers came with big machines and hauled the logs onto their trucks, leaving barren land behind Ram Murthy Used to reside close to the Ridge

4 of 4 Ram Murthy, who witnessed the felling of the trees in Satbari. SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

In the summer of 1996, as parts of the Ridge, Delhi’s main forested area, was under threat, the Supreme Court noted that that some parts of it had been “erased”. It passed a landmark order that it is mandatory to keep the Ridge free of encroachers and that “its pristine glory must be maintained for all times (sic)”. Environmentalists believed the Ridge was safe.

Twenty-eight summers later, white-haired Ram Murthy, who lives near the southern part of the forest area, in a hut off Gaushala Road in Chhatarpur, remembers “important looking people” with the police visiting the area in February. Within days, hundreds of trees were cut.

“Workers came with big machines and hauled the logs onto their trucks, leaving barren land behind,” Murthy said. She didn’t experience what else went down, because she scrambled away from the area with her tea-and-biscuit cart to ensure they didn’t break that as well. Her pucca house and shop, adjacent to the boundary wall of a farmhouse had been razed by authorities in November 2023.

The cutting of the trees made national headlines this July after two petitions were filed, one in the High Court and another in the Supreme Court. Both revealed that about 1,100 trees were cut in the southern Ridge and the adjoining area of Satbari by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) that manages land and housing for the city’s residents, and comes under the Central government. The felling did not have a go-ahead from the Supreme Court that now wants 100 trees planted for every one felled.

This violation is not limited to the Ridge. In the past, there have been similar instances of ecological transgressions. For instance, the DDA and various other agencies have still not physically demarcated the Yamuna floodplain, leading to encroachments and events that cause damage to the ecosystem. Again, every winter Delhi and many parts of the Indo-Gangetic plains face severe air pollution, but citizens see no signs of an improvement.

Caught in a political dissonance, Delhi-ites experience the impact of environmental neglect and degradation firsthand. The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has been attacking Delhi Lieutenant- Governor, V.K. Saxena, and on Saturday protested in front of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters in Delhi. They claim the L-G is “a killer of trees”. The L-G has not responded to this; instead, he has highlighted the greening efforts under his tenure and his plans of tree plantation in the Capital.

Hills and trees

The Ridge is the tail end of the ancient Aravalli hills, which are around 1,500 million years old as per government reports, and form a band, stretching from Gujarat, through Rajasthan and Haryana, and ending in Delhi. It is ecologically biodiverse, the home to a variety of flora and fauna native to the region, frombabul(Acacia nilotica),phulahi(Acacia modesta), andkatha(Acacia catechu) to nilgai, porcupine, and the palm civet.

In Delhi, the Ridge is spread across 7,784 hectare (ha) and covers south, central, south-central, north, and a small part of south-west Delhi. A large chunk — 6,626 ha — is owned by Delhi’s Forest Department. The rest — 1,158 ha — is owned by many departments, with the largest chunk owned by the DDA.

In May this year, a Central Empowered Committee (CEC), formed on the directions of the Supreme Court,noted in its report that “several orders have been passed and many committees and authorities have been constituted or nominated, but there is absolutely no progress as far as securing the Delhi Ridge is concerned.”

The May report noted that on one hand the rate of clearing of encroachments in the Ridge is slow and on the other hand, diversion of Ridge land for “non-forestry purposes” is increasing.

Also, the data on the extent of encroachments is available only for the area under the ownershipof the Forest Department of Delhi government, as per the report. It also says that 5% of the area under the Forest Department has been encroached upon, but there is no data available for the other Ridge areas.

Barren and brown

The 1,100 trees were cut to widen Gaushala Road. The road leads to the newly inaugurated South Asian University and Central Armed Police Forces Institute of Medical Sciences.

As the roads goes towards these institutes, the left side features farmhouses, a café, and a few apartment buildings. The right side is now just piles of grey construction waste (locally known asmalba)and mud. The trees, kikar, neem, and jamun, as per environmentalists, with deciduous light green leaves that glistened in the sun, are no more.

On May 9,the Supreme Court halted the construction of the road. Tyre marks from construction vehicles lead into a full forest. Some police barricades are also stationed near the leftover rubble and dirt. “The trees were once full and green, and offered shade to people stopping for a tea break,” Murthy says. She has set up a cart on the road, selling tea and biscuits.

Mukesh, 34, who works as a grocery supplier to several make-shift kiosks in the area says that the Central government-appointed Lieutenant Governor had visited the area before the trees were cut and had inspected the road along with other officials.

Currently, the construction waste left over from road expansion is being picked up by contractual workers with bulldozers. A labourer who wished to remain anonymous says, “We don’t know why, but we were told to pick up all themalba. I think they will re-plant trees here now.”

Environmental fire-fighters

In February, 62-year-old Bindu Kapurea, a social worker, came to know about the felling of trees through a message from a citizen and went to check it out February 24.

Kapurea, who had fought against the felling of trees in another road expansion project in the Vasant Kunj area, immediately complained on the Delhi government’s green helpline. She allegedly got a call back informing her that the tree cutting was legal as the L-G had given the permission via a notification on February 14.

Meanwhile, Bhavreen Kandhari, 51, an environmental activist, also found out about it and visited the area on February 29. “I was angry when I went there. We even fight for two trees and here hundreds of trees were cut,” Kandhari says, animatedly. “But at that point even we didn’t know that 1,100 trees were cut.” The activist says she could see stumps of some of the trees, but the authorities had already started to cover them with soil, and mosttrunks were already moved out.

Attaching photos from the area, Kandhari filed an application in an ongoing contempt case on trees she had filed in the Delhi High Court. On March 18, the High Court issued a contempt notice to the vice-chairperson of DDA and Delhi’s Principal Secretary of the Department of Forest and Wildlife.

In the first week of May, Kapurea filed a contempt case in the Supreme Court on the same issue and the top court, over the next two months, heavily criticised the DDA and also pulled up the Delhi government.

We all fall down

Neeraj Kumar, 44, who works as a driver and lives in Satyanand Colony, next to Gaushala Road, alleges that the alignment of the road was changed by the DDA to benefit the farmhouses.

“If the road was built as per the initial plan, only 100 trees would have been cut. But they expanded the road only on the right side and 1,100 trees had to be cut,” Kumar says.

“After the DDA demolished the boundary wall of two farmhouses, the officials said we are also on DDA land and will be evicted. How can it be? My family has been living here for 45 years,” he says. Kumar and others filed a case in the High Court on the issue.

The allegation of changing of the alignment of the road has been taken up by the AAP and the Urban Development Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj. On May 16, Bharadwaj wrote to the Chief Secretary to provide details of the landowners in the area on both sides of the road within a week.

Kumar produces a document that shows he had complained to the Prime Minister’s office on February 11 that thousands of trees would be cut due to the road widening. On February 15, the DDA had filed an application before the Supreme Court for the felling of trees.

On March 4, the court rejected it by saying that the application is “very vague which seeks permission to fell/translocate 1,051 trees” and directed the DDA to re-examine the proposal by employing experts in the field. “The exercise to be undertaken by the DDA is necessary for ensuring that while public work is carried out, minimum number of trees are required to be felled. The said approach is not reflected from the application made by the DDA,” the court said.

The DDA at that point did not disclose to the court that trees had already been felled from February 16 to 26. Of the 1,051 trees, 422 was in non-Ridge areas and 629 in the Ridge, but officials now say some of the 422 trees could also be in the Ridge.

“When this Court heard the application on 4th March, 2024, the DDA suppressed this (that the trees had already been cut) material fact,” the Supreme Court said on May 16. From May 14 onwards, the top court started asking the questions about who had ordered a private contractor to cut trees in the Ridge area without the mandatory permission from the court.

On June 24, the Supreme Court observed that prima facie, it appeared that the entire blame had been shifted onto the subordinate officers of the DDA by the vice-chairperson.

On both June 24 and June 26, the court pushed different authorities to understand who gave the order to cut the trees, but did not get a clear answer.In its latest hearing on July 12, the Supreme Court observed that prima facie, it appeared that officers were reluctant to state what exactly happened during the L-G’s visit to the site on February 3. “Now, the truth has come out,” the court said.The court has asked the DDA to clarify whether it instructed the contractor to fell the trees by its own decision or on the basis of an oral direction issued by the L-G — who is the chairperson of the DDA — on February 3.

The court also slammed the Delhi government for exercising its “non-existent powers” by issuing a notification (with the L-G’s orders) on February 14 allowing the DDA to fell 422 trees.

Kandhari says there is still a long way to go. “My hair has started turning white fighting for the environment, but things are not changing,” she says, with disappointment.

“Our case in the High Court is contempt of a second case, which is actually contempt of another case. So, it is contempt of contempt. Is this a joke? Courts generally let off violators of offences like illegally cutting trees with a fine, but that is not enough,” she says. “When government agencies violate law, the responsibility of officers has to be fixed. They should be sent to jail, even if it is for a day. Only then will the situation change.”

Murthy remembers a full forest adjacent to the road, where cattle grazed and birds flew, and her home which had been built by taking a loan. She says, “I know my house was on government land, but they razed it without any notice. I am still paying off my debt on it.”

Edit

- What is the gender gap in education?

- Will local job quotas pass the legal test?

- What are the rules for IAS probationers?

What is the gender gap in education?

Priscilla Jebaraj

What do figures from the Unified District Information System for Education and the All India Survey on Higher Education indicate? Are girls more likely to complete secondary education when they have access to it? What needs to be done to ensure girls, and boys, don’t drop out?

Moving up: Girl students with their bicycles in Mandya in 2018. File PhotoMURALI KUMAR K

The story so far:

The World Economic Forum (WEF) report of 2024 on global gender gaps recently ranked India at 129 out of 146 economies, with a decline in the education sector being one of the reasons for India’s rank slipping a couple of places this year.

Where does the gap lie?

According to the WEF’s June report, updated figures in educational attainment indicators have caused India’s gender parity levels to dip from the previous year. “While the shares of women are high in primary, secondary and tertiary education enrolments, they have only been modestly increasing, and the gap between men and women’s literacy rate is 17.2 percentage points wide, leaving India ranked 124th on this indicator,” the 18th edition of the report said, recording a score of 0.964 in the education category. In the 17th edition, published in 2023, however, India had attained a perfect 1.000 score in terms of educational parity, ranking 26th in that category. The main indicators being tracked are enrolment levels in primary, secondary and tertiary education, as well as the adult literacy rate.

Asked about India’s regression from the perfect score, WEF’s Insight and Data Lead Ricky Li said that source data for Educational Attainment indicators is collected by UNESCO, whose figures are subject to data updates on a periodic basis. “In the 18th edition of the Index, the values used in the computation of India’s Educational Attainment gender parity score correspond to [the] 2022 and 2023 periods. The 17th edition included data from 2018, 2021, and 2022,” he told The Hindu. “An important aspect of the data to consider when interpreting the gender parity is the corresponding period, as a seemingly significant change in score could be reflecting an update in the values corresponding to the indicator,” he added.

What do Indian statistics show?

The Union Education Ministry tracks school and college enrolment data using two major collection systems: the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE+) and the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE). The UDISE+ report for 2021-22 shows that 13.79 crore boys were enrolled in school, in comparison to 12.73 crore girls, meaning that girls make up 48% of the school population. However, this varies at the different stages of school education. In preschool or kindergarten, girls make up 46.8% of enrolled children. By primary school (Classes 1 to 5), this rises to 47.8%, improving still further in upper primary or elementary school (Classes 6 to 8), when girls make up 48.3% of enrolled children. Clearly, some girls drop out of school at that stage, when the right to free education ends after Class 8. The gender gap widens in secondary school (Class 9 and 10), with girls dropping to 47.9% of enrolled children.

However, girls who do have access to secondary education are more likely to stick to the finish: the higher secondary level (Class 11 and 12) has the lowest gender gap of 48.3%.

That trend continues into higher education, according to the AISHE report for 2021-22. In that year, the gross enrolment ratio (GER) for women in higher education — meaning the percentage of the population between 18 and 23 years enrolled in colleges and universities — across the country was 28.5, slightly higher than the male GER of 28.3. Female enrolment in higher education has seen a 32% increase since 2014-15. Neither the UDISE+ nor AISHE have yet published data for 2022-23.

What is the impact of a slew of packages to incentivise girls to get an education?

The biggest impact has come from simply building more schools. If a primary school exists within one or two kilometres of a child’s home, parents are more likely to enrol their children, especially girls. “There has been enormous growth in the number of schools, especially since the mid-90s, which is when you also saw a spike in the enrolment of girls nationwide,” says Vimala Ramachandran, a former Professor at the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration and the first national director for Mahila Samakhya, a flagship Central government programme on education for rural girls and women. She notes regional differences, pointing out that in Gujarat, where the government built few secondary and higher secondary schools, leaving these largely to the private sector, girls make up only 45.2% of students in secondary classes, far behind much poorer States like Jharkhand (50.7%), Chhattisgarh (51.2%), Bihar (50.1%) and even Uttar Pradesh (45.4%).

Another important factor is the presence of women teachers. An adviser on child rights to a State government which has made progress in enrolment says the areas with low enrolment are mostly those with primary schools employing only one or two teachers. “If a school has only a male teacher, parents are not comfortable sending their daughters there,” he said.

Transport to and from school can also be a barrier, and free bus passes for schoolgirls in States like Haryana, Punjab and Tamil Nadu, as well as schemes to give free cycles to girls in Bihar and other States have improved enrolment, though it did not work as well in Rajasthan. Sanitation issues remain a major obstacle for girls education in higher classes, especially after puberty, and may cause a large number of dropouts after Class 8. Though the Union and State governments have funded the construction of washrooms in schools, there is no funding for cleaning and maintenance, which is often left to lax local bodies.

What is the next challenge?

A number of States have successfully closed the gender gap in higher classes, to the extent that there are worries about boys dropping out before completing school. In West Bengal for instance, girls make up 55.7% of higher secondary students, and there are similar situations in Chhattisgarh (53.1%) and Tamil Nadu (51.2%). The State government adviser notes that this could partly be attributed to the Right to Education Act stipulating that students cannot be failed till Class 8. “Girls who make it to Class 9 are usually interested in studying, but some boys who make it to the secondary level and then fail simply drop out. There may also be higher pressure on poorer boys to earn a living,” he says, warning that boys must not be allowed to slip through the cracks.

At the college level, although the female GER is higher than the male GER, the picture changes when looking at regional and discipline-wise data. For instance, women students make up only 42.5% of those enrolled in STEM subjects from undergraduate to Ph.D levels, and the challenge lies in encouraging more girls to opt for these disciplines. Adult literacy is also still a matter of concern, with only 64.63% of women who are literate, in comparison to 80.88% of men, according to the last Census data from 2011. This calls for steps to improve foundational literacy in schools as well as to take education to rural women to close the gender gap.

Will local job quotas pass the legal test?

K. Venkataramanan

What does the Constitution say? Why is the constitutionality of the Karnataka State Employment of Local Candidates in the Industries, Factories and Other Establishments Bill, 2024, being doubted? What is the status of similar laws in other States such as Haryana?

At an impasse: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddharamaiah speaks at a press conference in Belagavi. P. K. BADIGERBADIGER P K

The story so far:

The Karnataka State Employment of Local Candidates in the Industries, Factories and Other Establishments Bill, 2024, which aims to provide reservation for Kannadigas in the private sector in the State, has been put on hold after severe backlash from business leaders and industry representatives. The Bill was cleared by the Cabinet, but is yet to be introduced in the Assembly. The government has promised wider consultations with stakeholders before it takes the next step. The legality and constitutionality of such quotas for local candidates, however, are in doubt, as similar steps elsewhere have run into legal impediments.

What does the Bill propose?

The Bill made it a rule that any factory, industry or establishment must appoint local candidates to 50% of its managerial category and 70% of its non-managerial category.

‘Local candidate’ is defined as anyone born in Karnataka, domiciled for at least 15 years in the State, and who can read, write and speak Kannada. Candidates not possessing a secondary school certificate with Kannada as a language must pass a Kannada proficiency test prescribed by a nodal agency.

Where qualified or suitable candidates are not available, the Bill gives three years to the establishments to train and engage local candidates. They may also apply to the government for relaxation of norms, but the relaxation cannot be less than 25% for management category and 50% for non-management category.

Why is industry opposed to it?

Business and industry responded with alarm on hearing of the features of the proposed Bill. They felt that such measures would drive out companies from the State and impact foreign investment. NASSCOM, the national lobbying body of the software industry, said it was deeply disturbing. The Bill, it felt, would “hamper the growth of the industry, impact jobs and the global brand for the State”. Many expressed concern over the impact of such measures on Karnataka’s leading position in technology and described it as regressive and short-sighted.

What about similar laws in other States?

Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and Jharkhand are among the States that have tried to bring in legislation to mandate reservation for domiciles or local residents in the government or private sector. The Andhra Pradesh Employment of Local Candidates in the Industries/Factories Act, 2019, sought to introduce 75% reservation for local people in any industry, factory, joint venture or project taken up in the public-private partnership mode. It also gave a three-year period for training and engaging local candidates, if suitable candidates were not available. The Act has been challenged in the Andhra Pradesh High Court, but the government itself has not been zealously implementing its provisions so far.

The Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Act, 2020, was struck down by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, and the matter is now before the Supreme Court. It provided for 75% reservation in the private sector for jobs that entailed a salary of up to ₹30,000 a month. It also came with a sunset clause that said it would lapse after 10 years. The court held that the law violates fundamental rights and that it is beyond the State Assembly’s purview to legislate on the issue. It said such enactments would result in States putting up “artificial walls” throughout the country.

The Jharkhand Definition of Local Persons and for Extending the Consequential Social, Cultural and Other Benefits to such Local Persons Bill was passed in 2022. Jharkhand Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan returned the Bill with comments to the effect that providing for 100% reservation for locals in Class III and Class IV employment opportunities may be unconstitutional. The Hemant Soren government, however, got it re-enacted in the Assembly in December 2023.

What are the constitutional issues that arise?

In broad terms, these issues arise from the absence of any provision in the Constitution for private sector job reservation, the absence of legislative power in State Assemblies to prescribe residential criteria for employment, the constitutional guarantee of freedom from discrimination on grounds of place of birth or residence and the fundamental right to practise any profession, or carry on any occupation, trade or business.

Article 16 lays down that there shall be equality of opportunity in public employment. It prohibits discrimination on grounds of race, religion, caste, sex, descent, place of birth or residence with respect to any employment or office under the state.

Article 16(3) allows Parliament to make any law prescribing a requirement as to residence within a State or Union Territory prior to employment or appointment to a public office in that State or Union Territory. Article 35(a) says Parliament alone, and not any State legislature, will have the power to enact such a law as to a residential requirement.

Another constitutional issue is the effect local quotas have on the freedom of movement of citizens throughout the territory of India, guaranteed by Article 19(1)(d). Any curbs on people belonging to one State to seek employment in another will inevitably impinge on their right to reside and settle in another State, enshrined in Article 19(1)(e).

As far as individuals are concerned, the restriction on hiring people of their choice may violate their right under Article 19(1)(g) to carry on any occupation, trade or business.

What are the rules for IAS probationers?

Vijaita Singh

Who conducts the examination? Who is responsible for checking details supplied by candidates?

The story so far:

On July 19, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) said it has registered a criminal case against Puja Khedkar, a 2022 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer on probation, and issued a show cause notice cancelling her candidature from the Civil Services Examination-2022. It said she had fraudulently availed attempts beyond the permissible limit under the examination rules by faking her identity by changing her name, her father’s and mother’s name, photograph and signature, email ID, mobile number and address.

How did things come to a head?

Earlier in July, Ms. Khedkar was transferred from Pune to Washim in Maharashtra following complaints of misuse of power by a senior officer. Ms. Khedkar, posted as Assistant Collector in Pune, allegedly demanded special privileges such as a separate office, house, car, and staff which she was not entitled to. Soon it transpired that the trainee officer, daughter of a retired bureaucrat who also contested the 2024 parliamentary elections from Ahmednagar, allegedly submitted fake disability and Other Backward Class (OBC) certificates to clear the civil services exam. Following the controversy, on July 11, the Department of Personnel and Training (DOPT) constituted a single-member committee, chaired by a senior officer of the rank of Additional Secretary, to verify the candidature claims and other details of Ms. Khedkar. The committee will submit its report within two weeks. In an order in 2023, the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) said though Ms. Khedkar had successfully cleared the examinations, she skipped six medical examinations to prove her disability before a medical board at AIIMS, Delhi, adding that “her candidature is liable to be cancelled.”

The CAT order was in response to a petition filed by Ms. Khedkar in 2021 seeking relaxation of the number of attempts by Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD). Despite the ruling, she was inducted in the services after she reappeared for the exams in 2022 and with a rank of 821 got PwBD reservation benefits under a different category — “visually impaired and hearing loss.” In the previous instance, she had applied under the “visual impairment and mental illness” category. Significantly, the DOPT was a respondent in the 2021 petition. By forging her identity, name etc., Ms. Khedkar appeared for the civil services examination 12 times. General category candidates are allowed six attempts till they attain 32 years of age. Those availing OBC and PwBD reservation are allowed nine attempts till the age of 35 and 42 years respectively. Candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) are allowed unlimited attempts till 37 years of age.

How are documents scrutinised?

The UPSC conducts examinations and interviews on behalf of the Union Government after which candidates are recommended for appointment by the commission to various Services. At the examination stage, candidates have to submit documents supporting their claims for reservation under various categories — SC, ST, OBCs, Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and PwBD. The first phase of scrutiny is done by the UPSC, which only goes by the documents submitted by the candidates. After the personal interview, all candidates are sent for a medical check-up at government hospitals endorsed by the commission. PwBD candidates have to appear before a medical board at AIIMS, Delhi to determine the level of disability. The files are then sent to the DOPT, which accords the Service after accommodating various quotas.

What is the probation period?

The probation period typically lasts two years, but it may be extended for a maximum of four years if the candidate needs improvement or has been unable to clear the examinations at the training academy. According to DOPT, “A person is appointed on probation in order to assess his suitability for absorption in the Service to which he has been appointed. Probation should not, therefore, be treated as a mere formality.”

What disciplinary action can be taken?

A probationer is discharged from service. The discharge can be on account of failure to clear the examinations at the training academy or “if the Central Government is satisfied that the probationer was ineligible for recruitment to the Service or is unsuitable for being a member of the Service.” The discharge can also be ordered if in the opinion of the Central Government he/she has wilfully neglected his probationary studies or duties or is found lacking in qualities of mind and character needed for the Service.

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Prevalence of NCDs tripled, infectious diseases doubled

R. Prasad

While the prevalence of all types of morbidities doubled from 56 per thousand population in 1995 to 106 per thousand population in 2014, it has dipped to 79 per thousand population in 2018

A study published recently has looked at morbidity transition across States from 1995 to 2018. The study examines self-reported morbidities in India by relying on the 1995, 2004, 2014, and 2018 data of the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO). Large number of households were included in each survey—120,942 households in 1995, 73,868households in 2004, 65,932 households in 2014, and 113,823 households in 2018. Multiple kinds of diseases and disabilities were collected in each NSSO survey, and the self-reported morbidities were classified into four broad categories — infectious and communicable diseases, non-communicable diseases, disability, and injury and other diseases. The study has been published in the journalPLOS ONE.

There has been a steady upsurge in morbidity prevalence — doubling from 56 per thousand population in 1995 to 106 per thousand population in 2014. However, there has been a considerable decline in 2018— 79 per thousand population. Compared with 1995, the reported morbidities risk transition significantly increased over successive decades — 1.81 times in 2004, 2.16 times in 2014, and 1.44 times in 2018. Across India, non-communicable diseases gained a prominent share in morbidity trends from 1995 to 2018, with Kerala reporting the highest rates followed by Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal and Punjab.

The study found that while the prevalence of all types of morbidities not only increased but actually doubled from 56 per thousand population in 1995 to 106 per thousand population in 2014 (and 95 per thousand population in 2004), there has been a sharp dip in 2018 when the morbidity dropped to 79 per thousand from 106 per thousand population in 2014. In the case of infectious and communicable diseases, non-communicable diseases, disability except injury and other diseases the decline started in 2004.

With a prevalence of 30 per thousand population in 2018, non-communicable diseases account for a major share of prevalence; it has increased more than three times from 8.6 per thousand population in 1995. In the case of infectious and communicable diseases, the prevalence has almost doubled from 8 to 15 per thousand population in the past two decades.

“Kerala consistently stands out with the highest reported morbidity rates, recording figures of 112 per 1,000 population in 1995, 266 per 1,000 population in 2004, 370 per 1,000 population in 2014, and 294 per 1,000 population in 2018. Other States like Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Punjab, and others also exhibit noteworthy prevalence rates,” the authors write. “Conversely, the northern and eastern states, particularly Manipur, exhibit the lowest prevalence of morbidity conditions. In 1995, Manipur reported a mere seven cases per 1,000 individuals, which increased to 28 per 1,000 individuals in 2004, 29 per 1,000 individuals in 2014, and declined to 19 per 1,000 individuals in 2018.”

Kerala has reported the highest prevalence of non-communicable diseases — 118 per thousand individuals in 2004, 185 per thousand individuals in 2014, and 177 per thousand individuals in 2018, followed by Pondicherry, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Tamil Nadu, and Punjab. The north-eastern States have reported the lowest prevalence of non-communicable diseases. For instance, Meghalaya reported just 1.7 per thousand individuals in 1995, two per thousand individuals in 2004, 1.4 per thousand individuals in 2014 and 0.2 per thousand individuals in 2018, followed by Nagaland, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh and Bihar. “Prevalence of non-communicable diseases has declined in several States in less than half a decade (2014 to 2018), but it is still sizably higher in numbers,” they note.

“As India undergoes concurrent demographic and epidemiological transitions, our study aligns with this dynamic shift. Notably, it highlights significant disparities in reporting morbidity burdens across different States from 1995 to 2018,” says Mahadev Bramhankar, a PhD scholar from the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai and the corresponding author of the paper.

“These variations are attributed to distinct demographic, social, and economic determinants characterising each State, contributing to the nuanced landscape of health challenges across the nation.”

Morbidity context

Many studies have discussed the epidemiological transition based on various aspects using demographic and morbidity data in India in the recent past. “But our study contributes additional insights by extending beyond a national perspective and conducting a meticulous analysis at the State level and determinants, especially in morbidity context,” Bramhankar says.

“The ageing population and rising life expectancy are concurrently fuelling the prevalence of non-communicable diseases without necessarily displacing existing infectious and communicable morbidities. Among all the morbidities over the period of disease transition from 1995 to 2018, non-communicable diseases are most predominantly gaining share,” he says.

Rise and shine: morning sunlight and your wellbeing

1 of 2 Speaking of science D. Balasubramanian

2 of 2 A pattern of earlier sleep timing is associated with a lowered risk of major depressive disorder.FILE PHOTO

We humans are affected by the cycle of light and darkness that occurs every day. Our bodies have a 24-hour (circadian) rhythm that is translated into physiological processes such as hormone secretion, which in turn drive our actions. To stay in synchrony with the environment, and therefore to perform the right activities at the right time, light serves as an alarm clock. This light synchronisation, photoentrainment, happens in the brain by light signals coming from the eye.

Many other species also depend on light to provide them with cues for their daily routine.When these light patterns are disrupted, their natural rhythms and behaviours can be affected. An example: tourism operators in the Maldives take boatloads of visitors out at night, and shine bright lights of about 4000 watts on the ocean surface. Biological activity in the water picks up as if it is morning, and tourists get to see whale sharks.

Our vision is enabled by the rods and cones, which are photoreceptor cells in the outer retina. The rods are very sensitive to light but are not colour sensitive and so are most useful in dim light; the cones work best in bright light, giving us colour vision. Rods and cones convert photons of light into electrical signals, which are passed on to retinal ganglion cells. These cells process information from the retina and pass it on to the brain.

Photosensitive cells

About 20 years ago, a new class of cells that could perceive light was found in the inner retina. Called the intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGC), these cells contain a photopigment, melanopsin, that allows them to directly respond to light. These cells have very important roles in our body’s interaction with light that are not related to seeing.

Electrical impulses from the ipRGC travel to areas of the brain that are involved in sleep, alertness and mood regulation. Signals also project to the area of the brain that controls the pupils of the eyes, causing them to constrict in response to bright light.

Importantly, electrical signals travel to a part of the hypothalamus that regulates circadian rhythms. This part of the brain has long been known to be the master clock, where your body’s internal clock is synchronised with the light-dark cycle in the outside world that is driven by the sun.

Morning birds

Morning diurnal preference is the classification for people who prefer early sleep and who rise early. Peak performance is earlier in the day, and the condition is associated with a reduced risk of obesity as well as better academic performance. Several studies have also shown that a pattern of earlier sleep timing is associated with a lowered risk of major depressive disorder (Scientific Reports, 12003, 2021).

Stanford neurobiology professor Andrew Huberman, in his popular podcast has pointed to the beneficial effects of low-angle light from the morning sun in resetting the circadian clock. ipRGC cells are most responsive to blue light (480 nm). The morning light has a low ratio of blue to yellow light, just enough to send a message to the hypothalamus marking the start of another circadian cycle. Sixteen hours later, your body is going to be sleepy.So go out and be in the morning light — sunny or cloudy, but don’t stare at the sun! Synchronising your clock will improve your health—physical and mental.

(The article was written in collaboration with Sushil Chandani, who works in molecular modelling)

Animals acquire genes from bacteria that can produce antibiotics

The Hindu Bureau

A group of small, freshwater animals protect themselves from infections using antibiotic recipes “stolen” from bacteria, according to a new study. The tiny creatures are called bdelloid rotifers, which means ‘crawling wheel-animals’. They have a head, mouth, gut, muscles and nerves like other animals, though they are smaller than a hair’s breadth.

When these rotifers are exposed to fungal infection, the study found, they switch on hundreds of genes that they acquired from bacteria and other microbes. Some of these genes produce resistance weapons, such as antibiotics and other antimicrobial agents, in the rotifers. The findings were published in the journalNature Communications.

Prior research found that rotifers have been picking up DNA from their surroundings for millions of years, but the new study is the first to discover them using these genes against diseases. No other animals are known to “steal” genes from microbes on such a large scale.

“These complex genes—some of which aren’t found in any other animals—were acquired from bacteria but have undergone an evolution in rotifers,” coauthorDavid Mark Welch,senior scientist and director of the Josephine Bay Paul Center at the Marine Biological Laboratory says in a release. “This raises the potential that rotifers are producing novel antimicrobials that may be less toxic to animals, including humans, than those we develop from bacteria and fungi.”

“When rotifers were challenged with a fungal pathogen, horizontally acquired genes were over twice as likely to be upregulated as other genes — a stronger enrichment than observed for abiotic stressors,” the authors write. “Among hundreds of upregulated genes, the most markedly overrepresented were clusters resembling bacterial polyketide and nonribosomal peptide synthetases that produce antibiotics. Upregulation of these clusters in a pathogen-resistant rotifer species was nearly ten times stronger than in a susceptible species.”

Most of antibiotics are produced naturally by fungi and bacteria in the wild, and humans can make artificial versions to use as medicine. The study suggests that rotifers might be doing something similar. The scientists think that rotifers could give important clues in the hunt for drugs to treat human infections caused by bacteria or fungi. One problem with developing new drugs is that many antibiotic chemicals made by bacteria and fungi are poisonous or have side effects in animals.

Zika infection

Does prenatal Zika infection have long-term immune consequences in children?

A new study has found that maternalZika virusinfections can reprogramme foetal immune development, leading to long-term consequences in children’s immunity. These changes even occur in children born without the physical characteristics associated withcongenital Zika syndrome— suggesting that the 95% of babies born of Zika-infected pregnancies who did not exhibit symptoms may have been affected by the virus with long-term immunological repercussions. The study used blood samples from newborn and two-year-old children whose mothers were infected by Zika virus during pregnancy. Immune analysis revealed highly elevated levels of inflammation, even two years after the Zika virus infection was cleared. The children’s immune systems favored producingone type of T-cell over another, altering their responses tochildhood vaccines. These changes left them likely vulnerable to future infections including diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis.

Rising antimalarial resistance in Africa needs urgent action

Artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) have become the cornerstone of malaria treatment and control. However, the emergence and spread of artemisinin-resistance (ART-R) in malaria-causing Plasmodium falciparum parasites in eastern Africa has compromised the efficacy of these crucial treatments. To counter ART-R in Africa, researchers recommend using triple ACTs (TACTs), combining an artemisinin derivative with two partner drugs, which have proven effective in Asia.

Spitting cobra venom reveals a promising antivenom

By studying the molecular characteristics of venom from spitting cobras, scientists have discovered that approved drugs called heparinoids can shield against the venom’s destructive effects on local tissue. The study in cells and mice suggests that heparinoids could potentially be developed into antidotes for cobra bites. These compounds also don’t require refrigeration like most antibody-based antivenoms, making heparinoids useful in remote regions that lack medical infrastructure.

Pig lung transplants can survive sans immune suppression

Researchers have employed gene engineering tactics to boost the survivability of transplanted lungs in pigs while reducing the need for immune-suppressing drugs. The pigs survived for up to two years without immune suppression. Similar tactics could help to promote transplant survival or to wean patients off immune suppressing compounds. Organ rejection occurs when a transplanted organ triggers an intense reaction from the immune system.

Business

- Anticipated allocations around personal taxation from Budget

- HDFC Bank Q1 profit climbs 35%

- SME IPOs still on boil despite SEBI caution

- ‘We aim to be among the top 50 logistics firms worldwide’

- Chemplast sees surge in revenue via CMCD

- Tea industry seeks higher RoDTEP rates

- TII arms set to unveil e-rickshaws, e-bikes

- JK Cement Q1 net profit surges 67% to ₹184.82 crore

- Union Bank Q1 net rises to ₹3,679 cr.; flags margin issue

- Kotak bank Q1 net up 79% on stake sale in insurance arm

- Yes Bank Q1 PAT surges 47% to ₹502 cr., NII rises 12%, NPAs dip

- RBL Bank Q1 net rises 29% to ₹372 crore, NPAs slide

‘Direct tax tweaks to be constrained by the need to protect tax revenue’

Alok Agrawal

Breathing space: Increasing standard deduction will provide relief to taxpayers.Getty Images/iStocktriloks

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present the Union Budget on July 23. This will be the first full-year Budget for the new government, now in its third term.

The fiscal deficit for Financial Year 2023-24 was 5.63% of GDP with a target of 5.1% for FY2024-25. Given the significant share of personal tax in overall direct-tax collections, the government is unlikely to introduce measures that would greatly reduce tax revenue. Here are key expectations from individual taxpayers and potential government changes to minimise fiscal deficit impact:

Simplified tax regime

Standard Deduction: The government aims to shift more taxpayers to the simplified tax regime. However, the old regime’s benefits have hindered progress. With high inflation rates, it is expected the standard deduction will rise from ₹50,000 to at least ₹1,00,000 or be adjusted annually with the cost inflation index.

This will not only provide relief to the taxpayers but align the tax system with the economic realities of rising living costs.

NPS deduction:The old tax regime allows an additional ₹50,000 deduction for employees’ NPS contributions, which isn’t available under the simplified regime. Allowing this deduction under the simplified regime could make it more attractive and encourage retirement savings. This would not only support individual financial security but also reduce dependence on Provident Fund, aligning with the government’s broader financial inclusion goals.

Infrastructure bonds: To support its capital expenditure on infrastructure, the government may reintroduce a deduction for investments in infrastructure bonds. Previously, a deduction of ₹20,000 was allowed in FY2010-11 and 2011-12. A new deduction of ₹50,000 for such investments under the simplified regime could be considered. This would encourage investments in critical infrastructure projects, fostering economic growth and employment.

Old tax regime

Affordable housing: The deduction of up to ₹1.5 lakh per annum for interest on home loans for first-time buyers where the stamp duty value of such property does not exceed ₹45 lakh, which expired in March 2022, should be reinstated. This would provide relief to low-income taxpayers seeking affordable housing. Reviving this deduction aligns with the government’s vision of ‘housing for all’ and addresses the pressing need for affordable housing solutions amid rising property prices.

Metro cities for HRA: Currently, a higher HRA exemption of 50% is limited to Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata. Given Bengaluru’s growth and rising rental costs, employees in Bengaluru should also receive a 50% HRA deduction. This will acknowledge the city’s economic significance and the financial burden on its residents on account of escalating living expenses.

Raising tax collections

Capital gains: Different types of capital assets have different holding periods under the current regulations used to categorise them into short-term and long-term. The government may consider extending the holding period for shares and equity-oriented mutual funds from 12 to 24 months for long-term capital asset classification. This would result in a higher tax rate of 15% for transactions within 24 months. Aligning the holding period and tax rates addresses the volatility and risks associated with equity investments, promoting a more stable investment environment.

TCS on jewellery: To widen the tax base, the government could introduce TCS on high-value jewellery purchases, similar to TCS on high-value car purchases. This would bring such transactions under the tax authorities’ radar. Implementing TCS on jewellery purchases would enhance transparency and ensure compliance, aiding in the detection of unreported income and curbing tax evasion. Overall, the upcoming Budget is expected to balance taxpayer relief with measures to maintain fiscal discipline.

(Alok Agrawal is a Partner with Deloitte India)

HDFC Bank Q1 profit climbs 35%

The Hindu Bureau

MUMBAI

The lender’s net surges to ₹16,174.75 crore, while net non performing assets almost double on year ; deposits rise 24.4% to ₹23,79,100 crore; while gross advances increase 52.6% to ₹24,86,900 crore; retail loans doubled, wholesale loans rose 18.7%

Robust growth: Total income grew 44.8% to ₹83,701.25 crore, the lender reported on Saturday.REUTERSANUSHREE FADNAVIS

HDFC Bank Ltd. reported Q1 FY25 net profit grew 35.3% to ₹16,174.75 crore from ₹11,951.77 crore in the year earlier period, while net non performing assets (NPAs) almost doubled. The bank had merged with its parent HDFC Ltd. on July 1, 2023.

Total income grew 44.8% to ₹83,701.25 crore from ₹57,816.67 crore in the year-earlier period.

In Q1, the bank’s earned interest rose 50.3% to ₹73,033.14 crore, from ₹48,586.81 crore in the year-earlier period. Provisions and contingencies were ₹2,602.06 crore against ₹2,860.03 crore a year earlier.

Total credit cost ratio was at 0.42%, compared with 0.70% for Q1 FY24.

Total deposits rose 24.4% to ₹23,79,100 croreGross advances rose 52.6% to ₹24,86,900 crore.

The bank said its retail loans doubled, commercial and rural banking loans grew by 23% and corporate and other wholesale loans grew by 18.7%.

Capital Adequacy

The bank’s total Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) as per Basel III guidelines was 19.3% on June 30 (18.9%) against a regulatory requirement of 11.7%.

“Gross non-performing assets were 1.33% of gross advances (1.16% excluding NPAs in agriculture) against 1.24% sequentially (1.12% excluding NPAs in agriculture) and 1.41% on a proforma merged basis on June 30, 2023 (1.25% excluding NPAs in agricultural loans),” the lender said.

Net NPAs were 0.39% of advances on June 30. In absolute numbers gross NPAs rose 73.2% to ₹33,025.69 crore from ₹19,064.12 crore in the year-earlier period. Net NPAs almost doubled to ₹9,508.44 crore, from ₹4,776.87 crore.

SME IPOs still on boil despite SEBI caution

Suresh P. Iyengar

Mumbai

The SME IPO party appears unending even as the capital market regulator SEBI expressed concern over run-away subscription, inflated listing price and subsequent rally in these stocks.

As many as 56 companies raised ₹1,633 crore through IPOs on SME exchanges in the first quarter of FY25, surpassing the previous record of ₹1,000 crore mopped up by 34 SME IPOs in Q1 of last year, per Prime Database.

‘Manipulation found’

Incidentally, SEBI detected manipulation at both the trading and issuance levels in the SME space. SEBI Chairman Madhabi Puri Buch had recently said the regulator is working to mandate more disclosures to safeguard investors and plans to use artificial intelligence to improve document examination, besides moving towards automated supervision.

Amid concerns of froth building up in SME stocks, the NSE imposed a price control cap of 90% on pre-open session on listing of an SME after the IPO.

Small offer, big gain

Yet, the ₹5.10-crore SME IPOs of Hariom Atta & Spices was subscribed 1,963 times. The scrip, issued at fixed price of ₹48 apiece, closed at ₹140 on the day of listing. The share closed at ₹152 on Friday on NSE Emerge. An investment of ₹1.44 lakh for one lot size of 3,000 shares has delivered a profit of ₹2.76 lakh.

“Most SME issues are subscribed multiple times due to their offer size. For instance, the offer size of Magenta Lifecare was only 2 lakh shares while that of Hariom Atta was 11.55 lakh, and these shares are sold out in no time given the hype created by merchant bankers,” said Sanjay Shah, a long-time retail investor.

Tarun Singh, MD, Highbrow Securities, said given the kind of valuations and money flow into SME IPOs, investors need to be cautious. The new NSE Emerge listing cap will temper immediate gains and prioritise long-term market health to build sustained investor confidence for a robust SME sector.

Advantage SMEs

Listing on the exchange has helped many SMEs with strong business fundamentals. For instance, Network People Services Technologies, a banking technology service provider, raised ₹14 crore by issuing shares at ₹80 a piece in August 2021. The company’s shares closed at ₹2,008 on Friday with a market capitalisation of ₹4,000 crore.

CEO and co-founder Deepak Chand Thakur, said the IPO funds helped to double customer base, strengthen product portfolio and launch a new line of business. The company is now gearing to expand operations internationally.

(The writer is with The Hindu businessline)

‘We aim to be among the top 50 logistics firms worldwide’

N. Anand

CHENNAI

R. Dinesh

TVS Supply Chain Solutions Ltd. (TVS SCS), India’s largest supply chain solutions provider, aims to be among the top 50 logistics firms globally, MD Ravi Viswanathan said in the company’s annual report.

Asserting that growth prospects are bright across markets, he said, “Given our proven repertoire, technological prowess, operational strengths and clearly defined strategic growth direction, we will continue to redefine supply chains for our customers and unlock growth.”

Mr. Viswanathan also said he was confident of overcoming market challenges and capitalising on opportunities globally.

He said TVS SCS was working with 78 Fortune 500 customers. “We have embarked on a global account management programme with the objective of cross selling and deploying capabilities across geographies for our global customers,” he added.

Executive Chairman R. Dinesh likened TVS SCS to a solutions firm rather than a logistics service provider.

“This approach has helped create long-term supply chain partnerships with our customers and provided new growth opportunities that position us favourably,” he said.

Global CFO Ravi Prakash Bhagavathula said in the last fiscal the firm repaid all its long-term debt and a substantial portion of its working capital loans as well. “We now have a fit balance sheet which positions us well,” he said.

Chemplast sees surge in revenue via CMCD

N. Anand

CHENNAI

Ramkumar Shankar Special Arrangement

Chemplast Sanmar Ltd. is expecting a fourfold jump in revenue to ₹1,000 crore from the Custom Manufactured Chemicals Division (CMCD) in the next three years, Managing Director Ramkumar Shankar said.

In September last year, Chemplast commissioned Phase 1 of the new multi-purpose block for CMCD at an investment of about ₹270 crore at Berigai in Krishnagiri District of Tamil Nadu. Phase 2 is on track to be completed in FY25, he said in his message to shareholders.

“Having secured two Letters of Intent (LoI) this year along with a robust pipeline of additional products, we anticipate reaching peak utilisation of this capacity within the next two-three years,” he said.

Chief Financial Officer N. Muralidharan said it was part of a broader strategy to raise production capacity and cater to the expanding product pipeline. Besides, investment in CMCD is vital for capturing a larger market share and boosting competitive edge.

Tea industry seeks higher RoDTEP rates

Press Trust of India

Kolkata

The tea industry has sought higher rates under the RoDTEP scheme to make exports competitive in overseas markets.

Leading industry body Indian Tea Association (ITA), in its pre-budget memorandum, said the present Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) rate for bulk tea is 1.7% subject to a cap of ₹6.70 per kilogram.

ITA urged the government to increase the reward base rate under RoDTEP for black tea in bulk to remain competitive.

The RoDTEP scheme ensures exporters receive refunds on embedded duties that were previously non-recoverable.

Another industry body Tea Association of India (TAI), in its pre-budget proposal sought an anti-dumping duty on imports of Nepal tea. TAI said this measure would prevent the dumping of cheap and duty-free tea from Nepal and boost exports of genuine Darjeeling tea.

TII arms set to unveil e-rickshaws, e-bikes

The Hindu Bureau

Chennai

Following the successful introduction of Montra electric three-wheeler passenger auto, Tube Investments of India Ltd. (TII) plans to unveil a slew of electric cargo, e-rickshaw variants and e-bikes in FY25 through its units.

“At TII, we foresee immense growth opportunities in the EV segment,” MD Mukesh Ahuja said.

TII arm TI Clean Mobility has four business units within electric mobility viz. three-wheelers, tractors, medium, heavy and small commercial vehicles.

“While the e3w is performing well in southern markets and is entering the northern market, e-HCV trucks are in the early stages of sales cycle,” said Executive Chairman M.A.M Arunachalam. Currently, e-tractors are undergoing rigorous testing. Initially, it will be introduced in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

JK Cement Q1 net profit surges 67% to ₹184.82 crore

JK Cement Ltd. reported a 67% increase in its consolidated net profit to ₹184.82 crore for the first quarter ended June. The company posted a profit of ₹110.73 crore in the year-earlier period, according to a regulatory filing from JK Cement. Revenue from operations edged up 1.62% to ₹2,807.57 crore during the quarter under review. Total expenses stood flat at ₹2,579.14 crore while total income of JK Cement was ₹2,852.31 crore, up 2.07% in Q1 FY25. PTI

Union Bank Q1 net rises to ₹3,679 cr.; flags margin issue

Press Trust of India

Mumbai

Union Bank of India on Saturday reported a 13.7% growth in first-quarter net profit to ₹3,679 crore and flagged challenges on the net interest margin front.

The state-owned bank’s core net interest income rose 6.5% to ₹9,412 crore as advances grew by 11.5%.

Net interest margin narrowed to 3.05%.

On the NIM, CEO A. Manimekhalai said while the number was higher than the guidance of 2.8-3%, it was a challenge to maintain the number above 3%.

Kotak bank Q1 net up 79% on stake sale in insurance arm

Press Trust of India

Mumbai

Kotak Mahindra Bank on Saturday reported a 79% jump in consolidated net profit in the June quarter to ₹7,448 crore compared with the year-earlier period, majorly helped by a stake sale in its general insurance arm and the performance of subsidiaries.

On standalone level, net profit grew by 2% to ₹3,520 crore, and the management conceded the business restrictions imposed by the RBI due to shortcomings on the technology front had an impact.

Yes Bank Q1 PAT surges 47% to ₹502 cr., NII rises 12%, NPAs dip

Yes Bank Ltd. reported first-quarter net profit grew 46.7% year-on-year (YoY) to ₹502 crore. Net Interest Income (NII) for the quarter ended June grew 12.2% to ₹2,244 crore. Advances rose 14.7% to ₹2,99,565 crore while deposits climbed 20% to ₹2,65,072 crore. The bank saw strong resolution momentum with recoveries/resolutions to the tune of ₹1,581 crore. Gross NPA ratio at 1.7% improved from 2% while Net NPA ratio improved to 0.5% compared with 1%.

RBL Bank Q1 net rises 29% to ₹372 crore, NPAs slide

RBL Bank reported first-quarter net profit grew 29% YoY to ₹372 crore. Net advances climbed 19% to ₹86,704 crore while total deposits rose 18% to ₹101,352 crore. Overall capital adequacy, including Q1 FY25 profit, was 15.56%; CET 1 was 13.85%, the bank said. Gross NPAs slid 53bps to 2.69% and Net NPAs 26 bps to 0.74%. “Our performance continues to track our stated goals, with execution starting to deliver promising outcomes,” MD R. Subramaniakumar said.

Foreign

- Israeli jets strike Houthi targets in Yemen ‘in response to attacks’

- Keeping up tradition

- Probe sought into reporter’s death in Bangladesh unrest

- 6 dead, 3 injured as Russia continues Ukraine strikes

- Myanmar’s civil war sees a devastating increase in attacks on schools, report finds

- Police injured in fresh Dublin anti-immigration riot

- 13 Palestinians, including three children, killed in central Gaza

- Drone strike damages ship off Yemen: UK agency

- Turkiye’s Erdogan says ‘no benefit’ in resuming UN-led Cyprus talks

- 11 dead and dozens missing after a highway bridge in China crumbles in flooding and heavy storms

- EU Middle East envoy vows to push for two-state solution

Israeli jets strike Houthi targets in Yemen ‘in response to attacks’

Reuters

CAIRO

Media in Yemen report that strikes were directed against oil facilities in the port and caused fatalities; while Supreme Political Council of Houthi movement vowed an ‘effective response’ to the strikes, Lebanon’s Hezbollah decried the attack

Counter attack: A huge column of fire erupting following strikes in the Yemeni rebel-held port city of Hodeida on Saturday. AFP-

The Israeli military said on Saturday that its fighter jets struck Houthi military targets in the area of Hodeidah port in Yemen in response to hundreds of attacks carried out against Israel in recent months.

Al-Masirah TV, the main television news outlet run by Yemen’s Houthi movement, reported that the strikes were directed against oil facilities in the port and caused fatalities.

On Friday, a long-range Iranian-made drone hit the centre of Tel Aviv in an attack claimed by the Houthi militia and which killed one man and wounded four others, the Israeli military and emergency services said.

“IDF fighter jets struck military targets of the Houthi terrorist regime in the area of the [Hodeidah] port in Yemen in response to the hundreds of attacks carried out against the state of Israel in recent months,” Israel’s military said.

The Iranian-backed Houthis have stepped up attacks against Israel and Western targets, saying they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians.

They began attacking Western ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden after Israel invaded the Gaza Strip following last year’s attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel.

“A brutal Israeli aggression targeted civilian buildings, oil facilities and power station in Hodeidah aiming at pressuring Yemen to stop supporting Gaza... but the attack will only increase our determination, steadfastness, continuity,” Mohammed Abdulsalam, the chief negotiator for Houthi movement, said in a statement on X.

The Supreme Political Council of Houthi movement later on Saturday said there would be an “effective response” to Israeli air strikes on Hodeidah port and that they will not hesitate in attacking “vital targets” in Israel.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah group said Saturday’s strikes by Israel on its Yemeni allies, the Houthi rebels, marked a dangerous turn nine months into the Gaza war.

Keeping up tradition

Devotees take part in an annual parade in honour of the goddess of the Gow Lengchi Shrine, a traditional Chinese-style shrine in Narathiwat town, in Thailand’s southern Narathiwat province on Saturday. AFPMADAREE TOHLALA

Probe sought into reporter’s death in Bangladesh unrest

The Hindu Bureau

GUWAHATI

Hasan Mehedi

A global media safety and rights body has sought a fair probe into the circumstances that led to the death of Hasan Mehedi, a digital media reporter, during the violent students’ protest in Bangladesh on July 18.

In a statement issued on Friday night, the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) said the 35-year-old Mehedi, who worked for Bangla portal Dhaka Times, was killed while covering the clashes between the agitating students and security forces in the Jatrabari area of Dhaka.

The Dhaka Times management confirmed that he died from a bullet injury in the head.

Mehedi was the 72nd journalist killed across the world since January 1.

“We demand a fair probe into the incident that led to Mehedi’s killing. As the populous country burns with anti-reservation protests by the youth, the authorities must take precautions to safeguard the media persons on the ground,” PEC president Blaise Lempen said.

Adverse situation

“The journalists in Bangladesh continue to work in an adverse situation because of many laws formulated by Dhaka in recent years. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina must look into the matter seriously and adequately compensate the bereaved family as early as possible,” he said.

Nava Thakuria, the Guwahati-based South Asia representative of PEC, said many Bangla media outlets remained unresponsive since Thursday when the country witnessed massive protests by the student community.

Mehedi was the first journalist to be killed this year in Bangladesh. Its neighbour Myanmar lost a scribe — Ko Myat Thu Tun — to military atrocities during this period.

India witnessed the killing of two journalists, Shivshankar Jha and Ashutosh Shrivastava. Pakistan lost eight journalists —Hassan Zaib, Khalil Afridi Jibran, Nasrullah Gadani, Kamran Dawar, Mehar Ashfaq Siyal, Maulana Mohammad Siddique Mengal, Jam Saghir Ahmad Lar, and Tahira Nosheen Rana — to assailants this year.

6 dead, 3 injured as Russia continues Ukraine strikes

Associated Press

KYIV

Pillars of smoke rise over a tree line in a field in the Kharkiv region, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine. REUTERSTHOMAS PETER

At least two people were killed and three more injured after a Russian missile strike on infrastructure in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, said Governor Oleh Syniehubov said on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials confirmed that the death toll following a Russian strike on Friday on the city of Mykolaiv, had risen to four. A child was among the victims, said the city’s mayor, Oleksandr Sienkevych.

Writing about the Mykolaiv strike on social media, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that a projectile had hit a playground next to an apartment block. “Russia proves every day with its terror that ‘pressure’ is not enough,” he said. “This destruction of life must be stopped. We need new solutions to support our defences. Russia must feel the power of the world.”

Ukraine’s Air Force said on Saturday that Russia had launched four missiles and 17 drones overnight, of which 13 drones had been shot down.

The attacks have left thousands of people without power or running water in the Poltava region of central Ukraine, Governor Filip Pronin said. Russia has continuously targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, leading to blackouts across the country.

The latest targets are the mining town of Toretsk and the city of Pokrovsk, where Russia is stepping up its assaults.

Myanmar’s civil war sees a devastating increase in attacks on schools, report finds

Associated Press

BANGKOK

An intensification of fighting in Myanmar’s civil war has brought a sharp increase in destructive attacks on schools, a group that monitors armed conflict in the Southeast Asian nation said in a report on Saturday.

Myanmar Witness said the attacks have further strained Myanmar’s already fractured school system, taking away education for millions of children who have also been forced to flee their homes, miss vaccinations and suffer from inadequate nutrition.

The group, a project of the United Kingdom-based Centre for Information Resilience, identified a total of 174 attacks on Myanmar schools and universities since the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi three years ago. It said the count came from evidence in social media and news reports.

Other groups have suggested higher numbers of attacks. The Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack, an advocacy group based in New York, counted over 245 reports of attacks on schools and 190 reports of military use of educational facilities in 2022-23.

The 2021 military takeover was met with widespread non-violent demonstrations for democracy, but those were crushed with lethal force.

Myanmar Witness put most of the responsibility for the destruction of schools on air strikes conducted by the Myanmar military.

The military government has consistently denied targeting civilians or using disproportionate force.

The report said resistance forces also have attacked schools, but much less frequently and less destructively.

Three police officers injured in fresh anti-immigration riot in Dublin: officials

Agence France-Presse

London

Three police officers were injured in the latest anti-immigration protests at a site earmarked for housing asylum seekers in Dublin, authorities said.

It was the latest in a series of clashes at the site in a deprived northern suburb of the Irish capital over the past week.

Police said a planned public gathering at the site on Friday initially “passed off peacefully” before turning into an “incident of public disorder”.

A fire broke out at the building site, with police subjected to “both verbal and physical abuse including rocks, concrete bricks and other objects being thrown at them”, they said in a statement.

The Garda — Ireland’s national police force — said officers used pepper spray and batons to “defend themselves”.

Three officers who were injured were “recovering” on Saturday, according to a police update.

A man in his 20s arrested on Friday was later released without charge.

Irish Minister for Justice Helen McEntee condemned the clashes on social media, saying that “a small minority of individuals are inciting violence and fear in an attempt to divide our communities”.

The unrest came just days after violence broke out at the site for the planned accommodation in a former paint factory in the Coolock area.

It is intended to house around 500 asylum seekers.

On Monday, at least 21 people were arrested after police cars were attacked and machinery set on fire.

The latest violence comes amid rising far-right sentiment as the government struggles to respond to a surge in asylum-seeker arrivals and a wider housing shortage.

13 Palestinians, including three children, killed in central Gaza

REUTERS

At least 13 people were killed in three Israeli air strikes that hit refugee camps in central Gaza overnight into Saturday, according to Palestinians health officials. Among the dead in Nuseirat Refugee Camp and Bureij Refugee Camp were three children and one woman, according to Palestinian ambulance teams. AP

Drone strike damages ship off Yemen coast, says U.K. agency

AP

A commercial vessel was attacked twice by drones off the coast of Yemen on Saturday but proceeded with its voyage despite sustaining damage, a British maritime security agency said. The UKMTO, run by the British Navy, said the attack happened 64 nautical miles northwest of Mokha, Yemen. AFP

Turkiye’s Erdogan says ‘no benefit’ in resuming UN-led Cyprus talks

AFP

Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in northern Cyprus on Saturday, 50 years after Turkish forces invaded, said he sees no point in continuing UN-led negotiations on the Mediterranean island’s future. He added that Turkish Cypriots should sit “as equals” with their Greek Cypriot counterparts. AFP

11 dead and dozens missing after a highway bridge in China crumbles

AP

Chinese authorities say at least 11 people have died and 30 are missing in the partial collapse of a highway bridge in the northwest of the country following heavy storms and flooding. A similar number are missing in the southwest after dozens of houses were destroyed by storms. AP

EU West Asia envoy to push for two-state solution

Agence France-Presse

Jerusalem

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s stubborn opposition to a Palestinian state does not deter the European Union’s West Asia peace envoy from believing a two-state solution remains achievable.

Sven Koopmans, in an interview, said with the Gaza war ongoing and Israel needing international support, Mr. Netanyahu’s government cannot indefinitely disregard European views on resolving the conflict.

“I think that recently he was very explicit about rejecting the two-state solution,” Mr. Koopmans said.

The Dutch diplomat said one side’s rejection of “the outcome that we believe is necessary” does not mean efforts to seek a solution should cease.

Sports

- Paes, Amritraj and a walk down memory lane

- India has semifinal spot in its sights as it takes on UAE

- Lowry pegged back as Horschel, Brown move into share of lead

- Duckett, Brook help England take a sizeable lead against the West Indies

- Norris on pole as McLaren locks out Hungarian Grand Prix front row

- Pogacar clinches penultimate stage, Vingegaard second

- Nayar and ten Doeschate set to join Indian team in Sri Lanka

- Thailand gets the better of Malaysia in a low-scoring match

- Sri Lanka defeats Bangladesh by seven wickets

- I want to compete freely and win the best tournament of my life: Tarundeep

- Indumathi and Chhangte get AIFF Player of the Year Awards

- Marquez succeeds Stimac as head coach of Indian men’s footballteam

- Akhil cashes in on Pariat’s mistake in Formula 2000 race

- Nadal reaches Bastad Open final

- Sahaja loses thriller in singles; makes the doubles final

- Preparations for the Olympics move up a gear

- India archery, rowing teams check in at Games Village

- Indian girls assured of last-eight spot

- Snooker legend Reardon passes away

- Tyler Adams to miss start of Premier League season

Paes, Amritraj and a walk down memory lane

Ayon Sengupta

Newport

1 of 2 One for the album: Paes poses with his memorabilia while Amritraj has a hearty laugh with his well-wishers. International Tennis Hall of Fame

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It was a stroll down memory lane for Leander Paes as he, accompanied by his family, did a museum walkthrough at the International Tennis Hall of Fame here.

Among Paes’s memorabilia — which will be now in display here — is his most cherished possession — his 1996 Atlanta Olympics bronze medal.

“The main reason I started playing sport was to emulate my dad who won an Olympic (bronze in Munich 1972) medal. My parents were there (in Atlanta), and they mean the world to me. Both of my siblings gave up a lot for me. I am here because of all the love and support I got from so many people,” said Paes, struggling to hold back his tears.

The Atlanta medal, won against Brazilian Fernando Meligine, catapulted Paes into Indian sports folklore. A country starved of success at the Olympics suddenly had a new hero who was not a cricketer.

His triumph made a generation of Indian athletes believe that they too could compete with the best. And since that historic medal, Indian has never returned from the Olympics emptyhanded.

Paes always wore his heart on his sleeves on the tennis court; his emotion and courage as much part of his game as was his lightning quick reflexes at the net. That passion was magnified manyfold when he played for India — be it the Davis Cup, Olympics or the Asian Games.

It was here for all to see as he spoke about Martina Navratilova, with whom he won two mixed doubles Grand Slams.

Navratilova and Paes’s 2003 Wimbledon trophy is also on display.

Calling the 59-time Grand Slam winner his ‘North Star’, Leander said: “She has been my guiding light and has inspired me through longevity of lifestyle — diet, sleep, training methods, recovery.

“I got a chance to play with her in 2003 and we won the Australian Open and Wimbledon. Playing with her was special as I grew up watching her play on black-and-white television in Kolkata.

“And then getting to know her as a person, to win Wimbledon together is special. She is not just a champion of tennis, but she is a champion of life.”

The museum will also be the home of another Indian tennis legend. For Vijay Amritraj, inducted in the contributor category, sport has always been a way to unify the world.

“My parents were flying blind when we got into this sport. Never knew where it was going to take us. I’ve often said that my greatest talent was being born to the right parents” Amritraj said.

“My biggest sadness, I would say, is them not being here with me.

“But it has been such a monumental task and effort on their part to get me into this situation and make something of me, which I never dreamt about.”

The Hall of Fame, which received 30000 visitors a year, mostly during the enshrinement weekend in July will hope to see a rise in footfalls as it welcomed two of the greatest champions of the sports from the world’s most populous nation.

India has semifinal spot in its sights as it takes on UAE

Press Trust of India

Dambulla

Harmanpreet’s side would hope for a perfect game against lesser-fancied opponents; improved show from middle-order and Radha’s form key ahead of the business end of the tournament

Trump cards: Radha and Renuka will be important to India’s chances in the competition.BCCI@indiancricketteam

Dominant India will be eager to perfect its tactics further while warding off United Arab Emirates which also can push it firmly towards the semifinals of the women’s Asia Cup here on Sunday.

Defending champion India’s supremacy was evident in its facile seven-wicket victory over Pakistan on Saturday, and the UAE will require a giant-sized miracle to stop Harmanpreet Kaur’s side.

India currently has two points and a Net Run Rate of +2.29, and a win over the Emirates will take it to four points, which will also have a positive reflection on its NRR.

There were excellent spells from Deepti Sharma and Renuka Singh against Pakistan, and their effort would have pleased the management to no limit.

They will hope that left-arm spinner Radha Yadav, who returned to the India fold during the home series against South Africa recently, too can join the wicket-takers’ list on Sunday.

“It was a good spell and there was some assistance from the weather as well. Of course, I could execute all the plans that I have been working on at nets,” said Renuka in the post-match press meet.

The batters were ruthless in hunting down a non-challenging target with 35 balls to spare.

Openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana gave the team a flying start adding 85 runs in just 9.3 overs and the loss of three wickets from that position was a minor aberration.

The Asia Cup also presents India with an opportunity to prepare for the T20 World Cup to be held in Bangladesh later this year.

Renuka said India is treating this event as a preparatory ground for the ICC showpiece.

In the day’s second match, Pakistan will look to bounce back when it faces a tricky Nepal.

Match starts at 2 p.m. IST.

Lowry pegged back as Horschel, Brown move into share of lead

Agence France-Presse

TROON

1 of 2 Standout performers: Horschel produced a sublime four-under 32 on the front nine. Right: Kim made a hole-in-one at the 238-yard par-three 17th.REUTERSJASON CAIRNDUFF

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Shane Lowry saw a three-shot advantage slip away during his third round at the British Open on Saturday as American Billy Horschel and unheralded Englishman Daniel Brown moved into a share of the lead at six under.

Lowry, who claimed his sole Major victory at the 2019 British Open, began the day with a two-shot lead and stretched his advantage to three with a birdie at the par-five fourth.

However, he was the latest big name to fall foul of the 130-yard Postage Stamp eighth as he was penalised for finding a bunker off the tee with a double bogey five to drop back to six under.

Starting at two under, Horschel produced a sublime four-under 32 on the front nine thanks to birdies at four, six, seven and nine.

Brown continued to defy his lack of experience as the Major rookie made the turn at one under for the day as three birdies more than atoned for two dropped shots at the first and on the infamous Postage Stamp.

Behind the leaders, some of the star names to make the weekend are assembling.

Xander Schauffele closed to within two shots of the lead, alongside Justin Rose at the midway point of their third rounds.

Two-time Major champion Justin Thomas and former Masters winner Adam Scott also impressed to move to level par.

One of the loudest cheers of the week so far was reserved for Si Woo Kim after the South Korean produced the first hole-in-one of the 152nd Open on the 17th that brought him back to five over for the tournament.

India’s Shubhankar Sharma, who spent three hours waiting to find out whether or not he had made the cut, moved up the leaderboard with a 67.

Duckett, Brook help England take a sizeable lead against the West Indies

Reuters

Nottingham

Attacking strokeplay: Brook took on the West Indies bowlers in an enterprising knock.Reuters

Ben Duckett and Harry Brook helped to turn a frustrating third morning at Trent Bridge into a 207-run lead for England against the West Indies in the second Test on Saturday.

England was made to work considerably hard.

A last-wicket stand of 71 between Joshua Da Silva and Shamar Joseph handed the tourists a 41-run lead, frustrating England as it failed to kill off a first innings that sprawled to 457.

England was still 34 behind when Zak Crawley was unluckily run out by a fingertip touch at the non-striker’s end. But an enterprising knock of 76 from Duckett set England on the way to a stumps score of 248 for three.

Brook took over in the evening session, showcasing some wonderfully instinctive strokeplay as he racked up an unbeaten 71 and bossed a 108-run partnership with Joe Root (37 batting).

Ollie Pope fired the starting pistol by sending five of his first 11 balls to the boundary, but it was Duckett who kept the bowlers on the back foot consistently.

Brook took his chance to shine, upper-cutting over the slips, threading the gaps behind square at will and taking a step down the ground to hammer Jason Holder.

Root was more sober but no less effective, peaking with a pair of immaculate cover drives.

The scores: England 416 and 248/3 in 51 overs (Duckett 76, Pope 51, Root 37 batting, Brook 71 batting) vs West Indies 457 in 111.5 overs (Brathwaite 48, Athanaze 82, Hodge 120, Da Silva 82, Joseph 33, Woakes 4/84).

Norris on pole as McLaren locks out Hungarian Grand Prix front row

Agence France-Presse

Budapest

Lando Norris.AP

Lando Norris claimed pole for the Hungarian Grand Prix on Saturday ahead of Oscar Piastri as McLaren celebrated its first front row lock-out in over a decade.

Red Bull’s three-time world champion Max Verstappen took third in qualifying to start Sunday’s race on the second row with the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz for company.

Perez crashes out

Verstappen’s under pressure teammate Sergio Perez crashed out in the first session, triggering a red flag and increasing pressure on his job as the Dutch driver’s number two at Red Bull.

Daniel Ricciardo, a former winner at the circuit, produced a late flash of speed once Q1 resumed to top the times in his RB from Lewis Hamilton for Mercedes with the seven-time champion’s teammate George Russell the big name absentee from Q2.

Top five rows: Front: Norris and Piastri; Second: Verstappen and Sainz Jr.; Third: Hamilton and Leclerc; Fourth: Alonso and Stroll; Fifth: Ricciardo and Tsunoda.

Pogacar clinches penultimate stage, Vingegaard second

AP

Overall leader Tadej Pogacar won the penultimate stage of the Tour de France on Saturday as defending champion Jonas Vingegaard came second. With just Sunday’s concluding time trial to come, two-time champion Pogacar has a five minute 14-second lead over Vingegaard.

Nayar and ten Doeschate set to join Indian team in Sri Lanka

1 of 2 Vivek Bendre, PTIVIVEK BENDRE

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Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate are set to join the support staff of newly appointed head coach Gautam Gambhir during India’s white ball tour to Sri Lanka, starting from July 27. Nayar and Doeschate have worked closely with Gambhir at the Kolkata Knight Riders and are likely to come in as assistant coaches.

Thailand gets the better of Malaysia in a low-scoring match

X@ACCMedia1

Thailand beat Malaysia by 22 runs in the Women’s T20 Asia Cup 2024 Group B match in Dambulla on Saturday.

The scores: Thailand 133/6 in 20 overs (Koncharoenkai 40, Maya 29, Mahirah Ismail 3/16) bt Malaysia 111/8 in 20 overs (Julia 52, Kamchompu 2/20); Toss: Thailand; PoM: Koncharoenkai.

Sri Lanka defeats Bangladesh by seven wickets

X@ACCMedia1

Sri Lanka scored a seven-wicket win over Bangladesh in the women’s Asia Cup on Saturday.

The scores: Bangladesh 111/8 in 20 overs (Sultana 48 n.o., Prabodhani 2/20, Priyadharshani 2/17) lost to Sri Lanka 114/3 in 17.1 overs (Vishmi Gunaratne 51). Toss: Bangladesh; PoM: Vishmi.

I want to compete freely and win the best tournament of my life: Tarundeep

Y.B. Sarangi

KOLKATA

The 40-year-old archer, who is an integral part of the Paris-bound men’s side , is focused on getting the process right in his fourth Olympics

1 of 2 Target in sight: Tarundeep said he will not let the thought of winning a medal deter his attention. PTI PTI

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At 40, archer Tarundeep Rai has emerged wiser after spending more than half of his life on the international circuit. On the verge of competing in his fourth Olympics, he understands the importance of not focusing on winning a medal.

Tarundeep – who made his Olympic debut in 2004 – is an unofficial mentor to his fellow India and Services teammates, B. Dhiraj and Pravin Jadhav, apart from being an integral part of the Paris-bound men’s side. In an individual sport, the trio works as a team. “It’s not about an individual, it’s about the team,” Tarundeep told The Hindu.

Years of wisdom tells him that focusing on the process is essential. “We are working on getting the best version of ourselves that day. When the medal comes to the mind, then the problem starts somewhere. I have contacted many foreign athletes to know what they think and how they prepare.

“It is all about how you took the competition. Did you compete with medals in mind? Or did you want to show your best version there?”

Tarundeep, whose contemporaries have turned coaches, elaborates on his quest for an Olympic medal. “Getting a medal will be the ultimate satisfaction of my career.

“The mistakes I made, because of which I did not get the medal, whatever it is – be it stress, tension or thinking about the medal – I am not letting that happen this time.

“I tell myself that I don’t want to take a big mountain on my head. I want to compete freely and win the best tournament of my life, the best Olympics,” said Tarundeep, ever thankful to his family members for their constant support.

Momentum

2024 has been a good calendar year for the three and they want to continue with the momentum.

“It has been the best year so far. In the beginning, we won the Asia Cup first-leg gold medal. In the World Cup Stage 1, we won the gold (beating powerhouse Korea). In the next two World Cup stages, we performed very well. We got good scores even though we could not win medals. We were able to achieve our goal. It is all a milestone for us. We are 100 per cent on the right track,” asserted Tarundeep.

Indumathi and Chhangte get AIFF Player of the Year Awards

Sports Bureau

NEW DELHI

1 of 2 Recognition: Indumathi receives her award from Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, right: Khalid was named the Men’s Coach of the Year. AIFF

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Indumathi Kathiresan and Lallianzuala Chhangte took home top honours while Khalid Jamil was recognised for his coaching credentials as the All India Football Federation (AIFF) held its annual awards after a gap of seven years on Friday night.

Apart from Chhangte and Indumathi, the other individual award winners were Khalid Jamil (Best Men’s Coach), Sukla Dutta (Best Women’s Coach), David Lalhlansanga (Promising Men’s Player), Neha (Promising Women’s Player), Ramachandran Venkatesh (Best Referee) and Ujjal Halder (Best Assistant Referee).

The 30-year old Indumathi, named the Women’s Player of the Year, is the first from Tamil Nadu to win the award. With back-to-back Indian Women’s League titles with different clubs — Gokulam FC and Odisha FC — the midfielder has been key to the national team’s performances as well over the past few years.

On a roll

Chhangte became only the fifth player to win the top award more than once after being named Player of the Year for the second straight time. The 2023-24 ISL winner scored 11 goals with assists for Mumbai City FC and was the highest scoring Indian in the ISL, besides scoring against Qatar during the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in June.

Lalhlansanga and 18-year old Neha were named promising players of the year respectively while Jamil was recognised for leading Jamshedpur FC to its first-ever semifinal at the Kalinga Super Cup despite taking charge of the club only mid-season. The event was attended by Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and all AIFF officials among others.

List of awardees: Player of the Year: Men: Lallianzuala Chhangte; Women: Indumathi Kathiresan.

Promising Player of the Year: Men: David Lalhlansanga; Women: Neha.

Coach of the Year: Men: Khalid Jamil; Women: Sukla Dutta.

Referee of the Year: Ramachandran Venkatesh; Assistant Referee of the Year: Ujjal Halder.

Marquez succeeds Stimac as Indian men’s team head coach

Amitabha Das Sharma

KOLKATA

Hands full: Marquez will continueto coach FC Goa simultaneously till the end of the season in 2025.FILE PHOTO: EMMANUAL YOGINI

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) named Manolo Marquez, the FC Goa gaffer, as the senior men’s National side’s head coach for the next three years.

The decision was made in the federation’s executive committee meeting to find the next coach after the departure of Igor Stimac, whose contract was terminated after the Indian team failed to make it to the third round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.

Marquez’s name was selected from a panel of 20 shortlisted candidates who had initially applied for the job. The seasoned Spanish coach was preferred for his knowledge of the Indian ecosystem.

Marquez is regarded as one of the best coaches in the ISL as he helped Hyderabad FC win the trophy in 2022 while playing a big role in developing Indian players, many of whom are now part of the National squad.

With the federation forced to economise owing to a financial crunch, the executive committee tasked its president, Kalyan Chaubey, to negotiate the salary with Marquez.

While deciding on the appointment of Marquez for three years, the AIFF also accepted the option of allowing the Spaniard to coach FC Goa simultaneously till the end of the season in 2025.

“The AIFF, FC Goa, and Mr. Marquez will collaborate closely to ensure there is minimal impact between the two jobs and strive to achieve the best possible results for all involved,” the AIFF president said in a statement.

The AIFF executive committee also decided to appoint the Kerala Football Association secretary Anilkumar Prabhakaran as the new secretary general of the AIFF.

This means that the acting general secretary M. Satyanarayan will be continuing in his previous role as the assistant secretary.

Relegation put off

The AIFF executive committee also decided to defer the relegation process in the Indian Super League by another season.

According to the roadmap presented by AIFF to the Asian Football Confederation, the relegation process was supposed to start in the ISL by the 2024-25 season.

Akhil cashes in on Pariat’s mistake in Formula 2000 race

Sports Bureau

Chennai

Viswas Vijayaraj, winner of the Formula LGB 1300 race.

Akhil Agarwal was handed a victory in the marquee MRF Formula 2000 race following Jaden Pariat’s disqualification in the third round of the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Car Racing Championship 2024 here on Saturday.

Parait took the chequered flag but was penalised for a jump start and “failure to comply with a drive-through penalty”. The penalty moved Akhil to P1, while Chetan Surineni and Tarun Muthaiah were placed second and third, respectively.

Meanwhile, starting from pole, Biren Pithawala (Team N1 Racing) enjoyed a trouble-free run and was the lone finisher in the Indian Touring Cars race with his rivals, Ananth Pithawalla and Deepak Ravikumar, encountering mechanical issues. Neither was classified.

Provisional results (all 8 laps unless mentioned):MRF F2000 (Race-1): 1. Akhil Agarwal (13mins, 04.066secs); 2. Chetan Surineni (13:04.646); 3. Tarun Muthaiah (13:09.482).

MRF F1600 (Race-1): 1. Abhay Mohan (13:52.487); 2. Monith Kumaran (13:59.414); 3. Raaj Bakhru (14:03.763).

Indian Touring Cars (Race-1): 1. Biren Pithawala (Team N1 Racing) (15:30.329). Note: Only one finisher.

Indian Junior Touring Cars (Race-1): 1. Hatim Shabbir (Team Performance Racing) (15:32.392); 2. Teja Srinivas (Team Performance Racing) (15:39.514); 3. Yug Italiya (Team N1 Racing) (15:50.132).

Super Stock (Race-1): 1. Justin Singh (Redline Racing India) (16:41.923); 2. Angad Matharoo (16:55.327); 3. Bala Prasath (DTS Racing) (16:55.568).

MRF Saloons (Toyota Etios) (Race-1): 1. Kesara Godage (Redline Racing India) (16:34.736); 2. Diana Pundole (Redline Racing India) (16:35.522); 3. Kalim Iqbal (Red Line Racing India) (16:54.554).

Polo Cup (Race-1): 1. Aditya Patnaik (15:30.830); 2. H.M. Tauhid Anwar Avik (15:38.195); 3. Romir Arya (15:39.509).

Formula LGB 1300 (Race-1): 1. Viswas Vijayaraj (DTS Racing) (15:04.786); 2. T.S. Diljith (DTS Racing) (15:09.655); 3. Bala Prasath (DTS Racing) (15:10877).

Nadal reaches Bastad Open final

Agence France-Presse

Bastad

Chugging on: It will be Nadal’s first final since the 2022 French Open.AFPADAM IHSE/TT

Rafael Nadal reached his first final since the 2022 French Open by rallying to defeat Duje Ajdukovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 at the clay-court Nordea Open on Saturday.

A day after his four-hour quarter-final victory, the 22-time Grand Slam champion was again tested to the limit by Ajdukovic, the world No. 130 who had won just two Tour-level matches before this week.

Nadal will play Portuguese seventh seed Nuno Borges or Argentina’s Thiago Agustin Tirante on Sunday as he goes in search of the 93rd singles title of his career.

Sahaja loses thriller in singles; makes the doubles final

Sports Bureau

Sahaja Yamalapalli missed three match points and lost 5-7, 6-2, 7-6(6) to Iryna Shymanovich in the quarterfinals of the $60,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament at Evansville (USA).

Sahaja led 5-3 in the third set, and later had three match points at 6-3 in the tie-breaker, but her opponent won the next five points to emerge victorious in a contest that lasted three hours and eight minutes. Sahaja, however, made the doubles final with Hiroko Kuwata of Japan.

Prarthana Thombare also made the doubles title clash of the $60,000 event in Portugal in partnership with Arianne Hartono.

The results: $742,350 ATP, Newport: Doubles: Semifinals: Robert Cash & James Tracy (USA) bt Anirudh Chandrasekar & Arjun Kadhe 6-4, 6-3.

$15,000 ITF men, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand: Semifinals: Jirat Navasirisomboon (Tha) bt Vishnu Vardhan 6-2, 6-4; Doubles: Final: Francis Alcantara (Phi) & Maximus Jones (Tha) bt Adil Kalyanpur & Vishnu 2-6, 7-5, [10-8].

$60,000 ITF women, Porto: Doubles: Semifinals: Arianne Hartono (Ned) & Prarthana Thombare bt Evialina Laskevich & Ekaterina Yashina 6-7(6), 6-1, [10-5].

$60,000 ITF women, Evansville: Quarterfinals: Iryna Shymanovich bt Sahaja Yamalapalli 5-7, 6-2, 7-6(6); Doubles: Semifinals: Hiroko Kuwata (Jpn) & Sahaja bt Sophie Chang & Catherine Harrison (USA) 6-4, 6-3.

Preparations for the Olympics move up a gear

Preparations for the Paris Olympics stepped up a gear on Saturday as security teams scoured the banks of the Seine ahead of next Friday’s Opening Ceremony and top International Olympic Committee (IOC) officials met in the French capital. Police with sniffer dogs checked the 6km route along the Seine for the ceremony in which around 6,000-7,000 athletes will sail on nearly a hundred barges and river boats in front of 3,00,000 spectators. French police will be bolstered by colleagues from several countries, including Spain, Great Britain and Qatar. Early on Saturday, a rehearsal for the ceremony was held on the river but security barriers and police screened it from the eyes of residents and media.

India archery, rowing teams check in at Games Village

Gagan Narang, India’s Chef-de-Mission for the Paris Olympics, said on Saturday that the archery and rowing contingents were the first from the country to check in at the Games Village. “I arrived here on Thursday night and have taken stock of the arrangements inside the Games Village for the Indian contingent,” said Narang, the 2012 London bronze medallist shooter.

Indian girls assured of last-eight spot

India boys defeated Brazil 3-0 to top the three-team Group-F with a clean slate on Friday in the team event of World junior squash championships in Houston, and will meet Canada in the pre-quarterfinals. India girls beat Brazil and Australia by identical 3-0 margins to assure themselves of a quarterfinal berth and will play Hong Kong in their concluding Group D match.

Indian results: Boys (Group-F): beat Brazil 3-0 (Yuvraj Wadhwani bt Caio Paiva 11-1, 11-4, 11-7; Shaurya Bawa bt Isaias Silva 12-10, 11-7, 6-11, 5-11, 11-8; Ayaan Vaziralli bt Lucas Carlson 11-4, 11-7, 11-6).

Girls (Group-D): beat Brazil 3-0 (Nirupama Dubey bt Gabriella El-Masry 11-3, 11-2, 11-4; Anahat Singh bt Laura Da Silva 11-5, 11-2,11-3; Unnati Tripathi bt Alix Borges 11-4, 11-5, 11-3); beat Australia 3-0 (Shameena Riaz bt Emily Lamb 11-6,11-13,11-4,11-3; Anahat bt Hannah Slyth 11-4, 11-1, 11-3; Nirupama bt Joanne Joseph 11-5, 11-3,11-5).

Snooker legend Reardon passes away

Agence France-Presse

LONDON

Reardon.THE HINDU ARCHIVES

Former world champion Ray Reardon, the coal miner who dominated snooker in the 1970s, passed away on Friday aged 91.

Welshman Reardon had previously been diagnosed with cancer. Reardon won six world titles between 1970 and 1978, earning an MBE in 1985. He retired in 1991 at the age of 58.

Tyler Adams to miss start of Premier League season

United States captain Tyler Adams will miss the start of the Premier League season while he recovers from back surgery, Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola said. “He is out for some time,” Iraola said. “It is difficult to say how long but he won’t be fit for the start of the season.”

SM

- Road to skateboarding glory

- Why Prayaag Akbar is less angry and more worried now

- The baffling case of Rachel Cusk

- ‘Gujarat was the laboratory for today’s India’

- State of the nation

- The other Ayodhya

- Easy like Sunday morning

- Strange places

- The many moods of the monsoon

- Himalayan experience

- Soldier and the train

- What’s in a surname?

- Gala Dalí In the company of ‘difficult’ women

Road to skateboarding

Uthra Ganesan

It has changed lives, empowered young girls, been the subject of a Netflix film, and is now drawing attention thanks to the Olympics. But for Indian skateboarders nursing medal hopes, the dearth of government support is the biggeststumblingblock

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2 of 9 Time to play (Clockwise from below) Gautham Kamath (extreme left) with youngsters at The Cave skatepark in Bengaluru; the Skateboarding In Chennai crew; a young skateboarder in Bengaluru; Shashwat Sunil of Mandi Monkeys in Delhi; and National Games gold medallist Shraddha Gaikwad in Pune. (Special Arrangement, Johan Sathyadas & SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR)

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6 of 9 National gold medallist Shraddha Gaikwad in Pune; and (left) a skateboarding enthusiast in Bengaluru. (Special Arrangement)

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Three years ago, a video of a little girl — frock flying, helmet locked in to control unruly locks, knee guards and protective gear in place — went viral. Five-year-old Janaki Anand, on a skateboard as big as her, wouldn’t know; she was busy shredding the stairs and doing other tricks, watched on by curious onlookers and her proud parents.

It wasn’t just her skill that was noticed back then. Skateboarding, a sport so alien in India that most people think of it as a public nuisance, has been having a moment ever since its debut as a competitive sport at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. It made many Indians sit up and take note of the newest medal possibility, and since then, an increasing number of youngsters have picked up the board-on-wheels, aided by a developing infrastructure and growing recognition for the sport. Anand, meanwhile, has gone from girl wonder to multiple-times national champion, and is finding more skate-buddies her age.

“Janaki has known about skating ever since she was little. We were in Dubai back then and I used to go around on a skateboard; it is a very common thing to do there. My elder son Rehan too does it, so Janaki has always seen a board at our home. It was two years ago, when we decided to return, that she became known as the youngest skateboarder in India,” says her father Anand Thampi from Kollam, Kerala.

A different lifestyle

Skateboarding, for a lot of people, is a quintessential American sport. More than a sport, it is a lifestyle, with its own vocabulary for the various tricks performed. Shredding, for instance, is the act of skating down surfaces like stairs, using parts of the board other than the wheels, and requires tremendous skill.

Mumbai-based Urmila Pabale, who began skateboarding about three-and-a-half years ago, only knew of it as something Peter Parker did. It was very Hollywood. “I have been roller-skating since I was five and have always been into sports and the outdoors, but even for me it was a surreal experience to see people on skateboards in India for the first time. It was just after the lockdown, I was 16, and had heard of a newly-built skate park in Navi Mumbai, near my home. I went there and just stared — this was something I had only seen in the Spiderman movies,” says the final-year communications student of Khalsa College.

There is no denying the cool quotient of the activity that attracts most children to it in the first place. Sareena Coutinho, also from Mumbai, and at 20 a veteran of the women’s skateboarding community, admits she started out for a lark. Pune’s Shraddha Gaikwad, 18, who won gold at the 2022 National Games held in Gujarat — the only time skateboarding featured in the competition; it was dropped in the Goa edition last year and its fate remains uncertain this year — picked it up by chance, getting on a spare board while delivering lunch to her security guard father who worked at a sporting goods store. They all agree that once boarded, it is difficult to get off the wooden plank.

Meet the OGs

Most skaters in India are students — either in school or college, with the average age being 20-22 years — and while it is not easy to manage studies with skateboarding, the thrill of it makes it all worthwhile. And then there is Bengaluru-based Gautham Kamath, who, at 36, is the grand old man of Indian skateboarding but more importantly, the founder of Jugaad, the first and biggest open skateboarding competition in the country, founded in 2016.

Beginning with just a handful of newbies, the event has grown to feature more than 500 entries from places as far off as Nepal and the Maldives. For most skateboarders in the country, this is often their first ‘skate jam’ with like-minded individuals. From Gaikwad to Coutinho to Pabale, nearly every Indian skateboarder has cut their teeth at Jugaad.

“To become a skateboarder, you need a certain calibre — you basically need to have a rebellious streak. You must choose to do it, you cannot be pushed or talked into it. I have been teaching for almost 10 years now, to all types and ages of people. It is relatively new; it is still more of a lifestyle thing than a serious sport and not everyone’s cup of tea. It is not easy to make a living from it. I am a rarity in that sense,” says Kamath, who quit his job with a smartphone company to get into boarding full-time.

Kamath has seen the sport come up from ground zero, having grown with it himself — from his first board being a gift from German skater Arne Hillerns in 2012 to becoming the first-ever official Indian entry at an international event, the Chuncheon World Leisure Extreme Sports Championship in 2016, to organising Jugaad, now in its ninth edition, all on his own. “It is difficult — it takes a toll, you get injured a lot, you fall, but have to get up and keep trying. You need to be stubborn. But it also helps develop your overall personality — it gives you the confidence to approach life, and never give up,” he says.

In Delhi, Surjeet Kumar had his own lofty ambitions — to make the city a skateboarding hub.

He set up the Delhi Skateboarders Academy in the basement of a building with wooden ramps, the first indoor venue in India and the site of the first-ever Jugaad in 2016. “The academy has, over the years, trained more than 500 children, of all ages, and the interest is only increasing, especially among girls. Parents too have started seeing it as a proper sport and not just a random pastime,” he reveals.

He explains the thrill of skateboarding despite the obvious dangers. “As children, there is little fear of falling or failing. That is one of the biggest reasons why there are so many youngsters in the sport. But, I personally think it is just the thrill of doing something most people are wary of. Normal folks will climb down three stairs; I have children who can skate down or fly over 7-8 stairs. It’s just addictive,” says Kumar, now in his 30s. He used to roller-skate as a child and picked up skateboarding on his travels through Europe and the U.S. as a student.

Not without its risks, skateboarding injuries range from a harmless ankle twist to more serious fractures, muscle tears and deep cuts from falls and the board itself. “Recently, one of our girls got a deep cut on her chin and had to quit the event she was participating in. It took a while to heal and when she returned, she suffered a hairline fracture. But now she is back again. It’s a high that you cannot keep away from,” says Kumar.

More girls, more power

While the sport is unique in its gender neutrality — the equipment, tricks, ramps and surfaces are the same for both boys and girls — the Indian mindset has been restrictive of women getting on the board.

But this is changing. Says Kamath, “There might have been restrictions earlier but not anymore, not for this generation. Parents can’t stop them and anyway, women are way more mature and more aware of things today. In fact, we encourage girls to come out more and although their numbers are still fewer than the boys, their parents are dedicated.”

National Games gold-winning Gaikwad, in fact, was the first girl in her family to travel alone when she went to participate in the 2018 edition of Jugaad. Soon, she was being approached for ad campaigns, be it Patanjali or Pantene, and then the Netflix movie Skater Girl happened. Gaikwad plays the role of the protagonist’s friend in the 2021 film supposedly inspired by the life of Asha Gond, who represented India in the 2018 World Skateboarding Championship. “The Olympics is a dream, of course, but skateboarding is a passion. I will do it as long as I can and if you are dedicated and work hard, there will always be people to support you,” says Gaikwad, referring to the people who shaped her career — Abu Sheikh, the manager of the store where her father worked, and her coach Swapnil Magare, who spotted her during a workshop at the store.

The inclusion of skateboarding in the Olympics lineup has been a huge catalyst in getting the sport some much-needed recognition, says the community. “Definitely, there is a change. There is more interest from brands, which is big for most of us because we struggle for funds. There is more government recognition — my silver medal at the National Games got me ₹5 lakh from the Maharashtra Olympic Association because it is now an Olympic sport,” says Pabale. “People everywhere are slowly getting to know about skateboarding, and parents are seeing a future in it.”

Coutinho seconds the opinion. “My dad is still against it but my mum has seen me go to competitions and win, so she is kind of okay with it. Also, the increasing participation of girls has helped. When I first stepped into the skatepark on Carter Road in Bandra, I was the only girl there and it felt weird to be amongst so many boys. But then people slowly started appreciating me, they told me I was an inspiration to other girls. I have seen many younger ones coming and skating, and it feels nice. When I tell people it is an Olympic sport, they are genuinely surprised and want to know more,” says Coutinho.

Ground reality

The Olympic dream that these young enthusiasts harbour though is tempered with an awareness of ground realities. “In India, we are at least a decade behind in skills and everything else, and it will take time,” says Pabale. To put things into context, Cocona Hiraki of Japan and Sky Brown of Great Britain, medallists in the park skateboarding category at the Tokyo Olympics, were both 13 at the time. As was Rayssa Leal of Brazil, who won silver in the street category; Japan’s Momiji Nishiya, who won gold, was 14.

Interestingly, while skateboarding is considered a quintessential American sport, the dominant countries, among the women athletes, are Japan, Australia, Brazil and Britain. “There is a long way to go. It will take years probably but the journey has begun and we hope to do our best,” says a confident Coutinho.

Kamath is more circumspect. “Not for another 20 years at least,” he asserts. “And then too, only if there is support from government bodies in terms of participation and facilities.” But the landscape is changing rapidly, no doubt, he admits. From one skate park in 2012 to almost 40 now across the country — from Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai, and Delhi to Chandigarh, Visakhapatnam, Ranchi and Gwalior — the thrill of performing on a plank of wood on wheels is catching on.

Skateboarding, in a sense, is a unique sport with its inherent contradictions: not much equipment required but the one needed does not come cheap, starting at ₹1,000 for a beginner’s board and ₹4,000 for a regular board. It is an aspirational lifestyle but has children mostly from non-privileged or middle-class families. “I could not ask my parents for a board for a long time. I was still in school then and could not buy one for myself either,” Coutinho says.

College-going Pabale, daughter of a single working mother, tries to manage her expenses by herself — from buying boards to travelling and participating in events and generating social media engagement — but admits it is not easy. Says Surjeet of Delhi Skateboarders Academy, “Many parents often donate gear and boards to the less-privileged children who train at our academy for free, and trust me, those are some of the most brilliant youngsters I have seen.”

At the Paris Olympics beginning this weekend, skateboarder Vareeraya Sukasem from Thailand will be one of the youngest athletes in competition. Videos show the 12-year-old practising her signature move, called The Feeble, as she glides over railings and flips the board before landing on it expertly. The day is not far when an Indian teenager will make the nation of 1.4 billion proud on the Olympics podium. As the likes of Coutinho, Gaikwad and Anand would say, we fly in hope.

Why Prayaag Akbar is less angry and more worried now

Radhika Santhanam

The author on the rise of right wing-nationalism and the changing aspirations of contemporary India, both of which find place in his new book, Mother India

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Prayaag Akbar’s slim new novel, Mother India (HarperCollins), is a worm’s-eye view of contemporary India. Through the lives of his two protagonists — a right-wing content creator called Mayank and a salesgirl, Nisha — Akbar explores some of the prevailing concerns of our political and social landscape: fake news, misuse of technology, extreme weather events, and the dire consequences of them all. This is a story of fiction written against the backdrop of familiar facts. Akbar’s previous award-winning novel, Leila, was converted into a Netflix series, directed by Deepa Mehta. The Goa-based writer, who is a visiting associate professor at Krea University, talks about the book, the changing aspirations of today’s youth, and his own worries. Edited excerpts:

Question: What triggered this novel? Was it a specific event?

Answer: There wasn’t a specific event. I was interested in writing about how two young people would negotiate this new world, this new economy that we live in. How does a young person who wants to make it big today, who has hopes and aspirations, as all young people do across economic backgrounds, negotiate the political, economic, and cultural landscape? I know technology plays a big part in this. Young people today, especially the age group that I write about, 21-22-year-olds, have grown up in the world of technology and social media. That was my starting point.

I also teach. I get to interact with youngsters who are very intelligent, well-educated, and hardworking. They are very well-tuned into the world of technology. But I also see how it has affected their mental health. They are more resilient in some ways and less so in some other ways. I am very impressed by how knowledgeable they are and I see that as a function of growing up in the age of the Internet. If you’re really interested in something, you can go find out more about it. Many of my students have deep pockets of knowledge in something they are really interested in. We didn’t have that in my growing up years.

Q: The characters in the novel are aspirational in varying degrees. They can go to any lengths to taste success. Do you think the idea of aspiration has changed significantly in today’s India?

A: That’s an interesting question in the light of the public spectacle of the recent Ambani wedding. Would this have been possible about 15 years ago? Doesn’t this signify a massive shift in our cultural values and what we consider acceptable? India is still a desperately poor country. They (Ambanis) spent about ₹80 crore on just bringing singer Justin Bieber here. That is an inconceivable sum of money to anyone else in India, including people who are comfortable. The fact that they are not being publicly vilified for it is a sign that India celebrates this kind of achievement. The aspiration is to be that: get rich or die trying. It is the American capitalist ethos that has got embedded in Indian culture, and perhaps Mayank, Nisha and Siddharth (in the novel) are like that too.

Q: In the book, there is a right-wing content creator, an activist from JNU, a death due to a bridge collapse. These are clearly inspired by news events.

A:The story starts with the people. The bridge incident that you mention has to do with Mayank’s father and his death. When I was a journalist, a bridge collapsed and I was reporting on it. My boss asked me to not mention the name of the company that had constructed the bridge. I was perturbed by that. The concern was much more about which contractor had messed up. Sometimes you find things from the past that work well for your story. I was clear that Mayank was born in 2001-2002. I weaved the bridge incident into his story. But you can’t just find news items and string them together. I focus on my characters and see what is happening to them.

Q: Soon after Leila, you had said in an interview that there were some things that really angered you over the years. Are you still angry about things around you?

A: I think I have matured. I don’t feel as angry about the world as I did then. I have a son and that builds a level of contentment. Now, it’s more worry about the future, about what my son who carries a Muslim name like me will face in the future if right wing-nationalism keeps going on...

Q: Tell us a little about the importance of mothers in the book and the symbol of Mother India.

A: In the book, there is Mother India, there is the activist’s mother, Mayank’s mother, even the dog’s mother, which is a different kind of motherhood. There are different kinds of mothers in the world. There are no right and wrong approaches to motherhood. We place tremendous burdens on our mothers. They occupy an outsized role in our imagination: the giver of life, the benefactor, the personal protector of happiness, the provider of sustenance. And they never stop playing these roles. It is an idealisation.

I wanted to compare that with the idealisation of the Mother India symbol. Mother India is a very powerful and positive symbol of our nationalism even if it is sometimes utilised by political people as an agent of division. It is a powerful symbol that dates to our anti-colonial struggle. And even that symbol idealises the mother. She’s always painted as young and pure and untouched, which is what we want our mothers to be — unsullied, untouched, and perfect.

I wanted to look at the role of the mother and actual lived experiences versus the idealised version in our head. Mayank and his mother, for instance, have a complicated relationship.

The baffling case of Rachel Cusk

Pranavi Sharma

In her continuing effort to investigate the female experience, the author creates an anti-novel that, sadly, seems stuck in the man-woman binary

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2 of 2 Author Rachel Cusk (Getty Images) STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN

In a moving scene from the aboriginal chapter ‘The Stuntman’ in Rachel Cusk’s recent book, Parade, the female narrator is “hit forcibly in the head” by a strange woman (a semi-autobiographical element), which the narrator later interprets as an artistic gesture. She realises after the incident that she felt as though she had been killed but remained alive. This death-in-life was linked to her experiences as a woman, which she had assigned to an alternate self, a stuntman, who absorbed the risks. She goes on to add: “but the violence and the unexpectedness of the incident in the street had caught my stuntman unawares”.

Parade, divided into four parts — ‘The Stuntman’, ‘The Midwife’, ‘The Diver’ and and ‘The Spy’ — intertwines the lives of four distinct artists, all of them named G, with the life of the woman narrator and her husband. The predicament faced by the female artist calls to mind Margaret Atwood, who, in one of her poems, writes: A child is not a poem,/ A poem is not a child.

Women often find themselves constrained by their femininity, juggling roles as mother, wife, woman, artist — in that exact sequence, never reversed. Cusk proposes three potent (if not radical) ideas in the book: the transient nature of femininity, comparing it to the eternal recurrence of violence, motherhood, not just its thematic concerns but also scrutinising how we write about it, and questioning how women can be immortalised in stone when their existence is defined by repetition without permanence.

Defying convention

The renowned author’s recent literary journey, transitioning from novel-writing to memoir (Aftermath and A Life’s Work), and back to novels with the Outline trilogy, is particularly interesting as she tries to find her artistic language. Cusk faced the challenge of integrating her female experiences into her work and felt compelled to address them despite the limitations of traditional novel forms. Parade furthers her interrogation by depicting the struggles female artists face in balancing personal responsibilities and creative pursuits, in stark contrast to men who often prioritise art over family. The book achieves this through an examination of artistic biographies, traditionally dominated by male creators as the ultimate authorities. Parade obliquely introduces and emphasises the concept of the female creator who pushes against established norms.

In a review of Parade in the New York Magazine, journalist Andrea Long Chu accuses Cusk of being a gender fundamentalist and claims her works have “characters who secretly want to be men”. She reduces Cusk’s work to a case of penis envy. However, there is something more complex at play here.

Cusk, in a recent discussion of her book, shared how the process of writing Parade was particularly challenging, involving doubts about language and narrative structures. She became interested in the non-narrative aspects of artistic creation. Is Parade, then, a giving in to convention or working your way from the inside? It’s a question that needs more deliberation.

I understand Cusk’s case through two third-wave feminists — Helene Cixous and Luce Irigaray. Cixous, in her essay ‘The Laugh of the Medusa’, writes, “Woman must write herself: must write about women and bring women to writing, from which they have been driven away as violently as from their bodies.” Irigaray, warning against gender fundamentalism, writes in ‘This Sex Which Is Not One’: “By speaking out the non-place of sexual difference, woman escapes from the prison-house where language, always in the singular, tries to enclose her.” Cusk seems to be caught between these two aphorisms and is painstakingly stuck in the man-woman binary.

The male perspective

The narrative voice continually shifts in the novel, with Cusk gradually losing belief in the ‘I’ and resorting to ‘we’, as if responding to an obligation to encompass all of human experience, which again, is counterproductive and aligns with Long Chu’s criticism.

The novel, therefore, ultimately possesses a mythic quality, manifested in Cusk denying proper names to the artists. Similar to how in mythology or a biblical story, a figure like Job stands for all of mankind, Cusk’s characters too are archetypal male and female.

Readers are confronted with the idea of how artistic creation — whether in visual arts or literature — is often shaped by male perspectives. At one point in the novel, a woman gazes at the male artist G’s painting and declares, “I want to write upside down.”

“…because she felt that this reality that G had so brilliantly elucidated, identical to its companion reality in every particular but for the complete inversion of its moral force, was the closest thing she knew to the mystery and tragedy of her own sex… G was not the first male artist to have described women better than women seemed able to describe themselves.”

The reviewer is an independent journalist

based in Delhi.

‘Gujarat was the laboratory for today’s India’

Ziya Us Salam

Christophe Jaffrelot on how Narendra Modi scaled up the politics and policies he initiated in Gujarat to the national level

1 of 6 From past to present (Clockwise from top) The Sudarshan Setu project in Gujarat; Muslim women light candles on the anniversary of the Godhra riots, in Ahmedabad; Prime Minister Narendra Modi with party leaders in Varanasi; Prof. Christophe Jaffrelot; and survivors look at photographs of the Godhra victims. (ANI, PTI, Reuters, gettY images and special arrangement) Reuters

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5 of 6 Gujarat Under Modi: The Blueprint for Today’s India Christophe Jaffrelot Westland Books ₹899

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When Christophe Jaffrelot, French political scientist and Indologist, submitted the manuscript of his new book, Gujarat Under Modi, in 2013, he was asked to delete so many passages he decided not to go ahead with it. He had done intense ground research, and held on to the book, replete with insights into the rise of Narendra Modi from Gujarat to New Delhi, till it could reach readers in 2024. “Gujarat was the blueprint for post-2014 India,” he says in an interview with The Hindu. Edited excerpts:

Question: You call ‘Gujarat Under Modi’ a “political biography of an Indian state through the personality and actions of its most resilient ruler.” Is resilience the word to describe Modi today?

Answer: I used this word to remain on a purely descriptive mode but the book makes it clear that ‘resilience’ is only one of his characteristics. And it is not unique: Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi have been even more resilient! If we look for more qualities, we would use other adjectives, charismatic, communal, populist, authoritarian, etc.

Q: He came to power with the promise of bringing the Gujarat model to Delhi. How far has he succeeded? And what has India gained from it?

A: He did, but the Gujarat model is not what people think it is. Modi has been able to scale up the politics and policies he had initiated in Gujarat to the national level: this is what the book is about; hence the subtitle [in some editions], ‘Laboratory of today’s India’.

The four mainstays of his strategy in Gujarat have remained the same: communal polarisation, the capture of institutions (including the police and the judiciary), the making of a new kind of crony capitalism conducive to jobless growth as well as inequalities and, of course, Moditva, a specific kind of high-tech communication-based national populism. This is the Gujarat model that has been ‘nationalised’ after 2014.

Q: You talk of communal polarisation as Modi’s primary weapon in Gujarat 2002. By 2024, hasn’t polarisation given way to open hatred towards India’s minorities?

A: Polarisation is a political strategy. Certainly, attacks on minorities rely on emotions — fear and hatred are key concepts here. But they are not an end in themselves: they are instrumentalised for creating a majoritarian Hindu vote bank. That was obvious in 2002 when communal violence was intended to prepare the ground for an electoral wave — this is why Modi dissolved the Assembly and insisted on holding elections in spite of the large number of people who had fled their village or their neighbourhood. And it worked. Similarly, during the 2024 election campaign, what was the objective of the stigmatisation of the minorities? It was to exacerbate fear and anger for consolidating the Hindu vote. If the BJP leaders promote hatred, it is not only because they hate the minorities, it’s also because disseminating hatred helps them to polarise the electorate. This pattern replicates those of the racists in the West.

Q: In the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the individual is secondary to the organisation. How was Modi able to turn it on its head while apparently imbibing the RSS emphasis on a hierarchy?

A: Modi, a pure product of the RSS, started to have an uneasy relation with the organisation soon after the 2002 elections. He tried to emancipate himself from the Sangh, and started to relate directly to the people, the populist way — hence his use of the social media, PR firms, spin doctors like Prashant Kishor, etc.; he did not report to the Prant Pracharak but built a parallel power structure instead and, even more importantly, a personality cult. Yes, this modus operandi stood in contrast with the ethos of RSS, an organisation where personalities had to disappear, to merge in the organisation. But what could the RSS leaders do: Modi said aloud what they only dared to whisper, he was fully in tune with their agenda, he was very popular among the swayamsevaks and who else could win the elections in the BJP?

Q: Talking of his economic policies, how do you look at Modi’s move away from say, health and education, to development of ports, roads and airports?

A: Two chapters deal with political economy issues precisely because his policies in this domain should not slip under the radar. The first one analyses the way he related to big business. While Gujarat was well known for its entrepreneurs, Modi promoted mega projects at the expense of small and medium enterprises. A new nexus took shape, formed by him and half a dozen of cronies, who got land at a low price, 0.1% interest rate loans and tax free as well as labour laws free-SEZs in exchange for the funding of expensive election campaigns. I demonstrate that the promotion of mega projects (including infrastructure like roads and energy production) was conducive to jobless growth because of their capital-intensive character. Despite its high per capita revenue, Gujarat under Modi (and since then) has not invested in education, health and anti-poverty schemes. Hence, inequalities deepened, fostered by pro-rich policies.

State of the nation

Ziya Us Salam

Two writers on the clear and present danger to the idea of India

1 of 4 Poles apart (Left) Women associated with ‘India Against Love Jihad’ protest against love jihad and conversion to Islam, in Bhopal; and (below) people in Chennai unite to condemn the rising mob violence and cow vigilantism. (A.M. Faruqui and S.R. Raghunathan) A.M. Faruqui

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4 of 4 Twilight Prisoners: The Rise of the Hindu Right and the Decline of India Siddhartha Deb Context/ Westland Books ₹599

In recent weeks, two books throbbing with immediacy have caught the headlines. In their distinct ways, writers Siddhartha Deb and Radha Kumar paint with words the stark reality of the times, marked by intolerance, violence, bigotry, and glorified falsehoods. Both Deb, author of Twilight Prisoners: The Rise of the Hindu Right and the Decline of India, and Kumar, in The Republic Relearnt, alert readers to the politics of one nation, one religion, one leader; and of the possibility of an elected autocracy. Their work travels from Kashmir to Assam, Gujarat to Odisha, with a reminder that the threat to the idea of India is persistent and present.

Broad sweep

Deb’s is a stirring saga, a recounting of known challenges which needs reiteration. Whether he talks of Gujarat or Ayodhya; Assam and the National Register of Citizens; 1% Indians cornering over 50% of wealth; challenges of being activist-journalist Gauri Lankesh — the picture he conveys is of a nation that has lost its moral compass, desperate to “arrive” on the global stage, by going to the extent of forgetting its own history. Deb writes how he discovered the erasure in progress. “... on Google Maps, I looked for the city of Allahabad, one of the oldest and most significant cities in Uttar Pradesh. It wasn’t there. How was it possible that a city of 1.8 million people could have ceased to exist without my hearing a word about it?” Allahabad, founded by the Mughal emperor Akbar, had been renamed Prayagraj, and Google made it official. Allahabad wasn’t the only city to face such a fate. Mughalsarai and others too were lost as the BJP government adopted a delete-your-past policy on history.

Deb’s writing conveys the impression of a river in spate sweeping away all that comes in its way. A New York-based writer, Deb goes wherever controversies beckon. From the banks of the Sarayu, he writes of the Prime Minister of India carrying “out a ceremony inaugurating the construction of the (Ram) temple” even as coronavirus raged in August 2020. Then without a warning, he asks, “Had a great Hindu temple to Ram ever previously existed here?” His exploration leads him to the Supreme Court’s words in its Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhoomi verdict where the court admitted, “There is no specific finding that the underlying structure was a temple dedicated to Lord Ram.” Yet, “on the basis of documentary and oral evidence”, it ordered “the site to be handed over for the building of the temple.” Deb’s work is a cry of anguish for India.

Kumar, on the other hand, expresses her fears gently, letting facts do the talking, building her narrative layer upon layer. In the chapter, ‘India’s Weimar Moment’, she writes that during Manmohan Singh’s decade, 2004 to 2014, India’s economy grew by “roughly 7.8% per year” and “275 million people were lifted out of poverty.” She says that after a first-term of broadly jobless growth, over 17 million new formal-sector jobs were created in his second term.

Love jihad and other ‘threats’

Of Modi’s rise in 2014, Kumar analyses: “The Modi administration came to power when chauvinist administrations were emerging or had emerged across the world. Three perceived threats were drummed up against Muslims. The first was the threat of Islamist terrorism, which Indians had grown to revile following a series of Pakistan-backed attacks from 1990. A key plank of Modi’s campaign in both [the] 2014 and 2019 general elections was to associate Indian Muslims with Pakistan, labelling the Muslim community ‘anti-national’ by innuendo... The second perceived threat related to cow slaughter. Between 2015 and 2017, sixty-three incidents of cow-related lynching were reported... The third perceived threat was ‘love jihad’, a term Hindu chauvinists applied to marriage between Muslim men and Hindu women. Coined in 2009, the term was assiduously promoted during the BJP campaign.”

Kumar, however, believes all is not lost, and says the common Indian will call a halt to all totalitarian tendencies. “Though the conditions for totalitarianism are still incipient, considerable inroads have been made... Even totalitarians could not eradicate individual dissent. There lay hope,” she concludes. Deb though alerts readers to the challenges ahead, writing, “The Ram temple in Ayodhya, built with stone from Rajasthan, designed by an architect from Gujarat, and funded by dollars from the diaspora in the West, is only the beginning of an effort to construct a past that never was, in the hope of devising a future from which India’s Muslim inhabitants can be erased.” Remember Allahabad?

The other

The story of Ram travelled across the seas, and Thailand’s erstwhile capital Ayutthaya is proof of this

1 of 2 A retellng Thai artists getting ready to take part in Khon, a dance performance that showcases the story of the Ramayana, at the Wat Chaiwatthanaram temple in Ayutthaya. (Getty Images) Getty Images

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In Thailand, there is another Ayodhya, known locally as Ayutthaya. It is a ruin now, full of tall pagodas and temples made of brick and stucco, and hundreds of images of the Buddha, many headless. This was the capital of Thai kings for four centuries, before it was sacked by the Burmese in the 18th century.

The Ram of this Ayodhya was the king, addressed as Ramathibodhi (Overlord Rama), as the royal name is not to be spoken. We realise the impact of the Ramayana in Thai society even today when we learn that there are strict laws preventing people from criticising the royal family. It was public gossip after all that forced Ram to abandon his wife Sita, in the Treta Yuga.

The word ‘Thai’ means free. Originally the Thai people were the ‘Tai’ people who migrated from Southern China to Southeast Asia, around a thousand years ago. Incidentally, another group of Tai people migrated to Assam, in India, and were the ancestors of the Ahom kings.

Tai saw their king as a semi-divine figure, like Chinese emperors, connecting heaven and earth. They introduced their very peculiar model of taxation — through labour, working on royal projects, such as building canals and temples and palaces. This is how the great temple cities of Southeast Asia were built, a physical manifestation of royal taxes, expressing royal glory.

Ramayana, Ramakien and more

Most kings of Southeast Asia followed the Mandala or the ‘circle-of-king’ model of governance. This is described in Chanakya’s Artha-shastra, and Manu’s Dharma-shastra. Here, a king’s influence is not fixed; it expands and contracts depending on their charisma and capability. As he moves out of his capital there are lands where he collects rent from, lands he collects taxes from, lands he collects tribute from. Then come hostile lands of enemies, followed by lands of the enemies of his enemies, and thus his friends — with whom he exchanges gifts, waiting for the right opportunity to plunder the city of their common enemy.

Most of these Mandala kingdoms were part of a trading network, located on the banks of rivers. Merchant ships sailed up and down the river, along the coast, and across the seas connecting Southeast Asia to China in the east and India in the west. We find such river-bank Mandala kingdoms along Burma’s Irrawaddy and Cambodia’s Mekong, too. Ayutthaya was located at the confluence of three rivers, which contributed to its mercantile wealth.

These cities were famous for their irrigation systems, vast rice fields and grand temple complexes. They were initially influenced by Pashupata Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism, and later, after the 10th century, by a rejuvenated Theravada Buddhism that radiated out of Sri Lanka. Also connecting these circular kingdoms was the epic of Ram, the Ramayana, retold by shadow puppeteers and court dancers.

Buddhist, Jain and even folk versions of the Ramayana reached Southeast Asia via sea-faring merchants over 1,500 years ago. This so inspired the local kings that they had them carved on the walls of the grand monuments they built, such as the 9th century Prambanan temple on the island of Jawa, Indonesia, and on the walls of the 12th century Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia.

The Thai version is known as the Ramakien. Anyone who watches this performance will notice that while the story is very familiar, it lacks bhakti — an emotion that shapes Hinduism today. Bhakti rose in South India much later, around the time of the Chola kings, whose imperial ambitions led them to war against the Srivijaya kings of Indonesia. In fact, as per one lore, the founder of Ayutthaya, Uthong, was a Chola soldier who married a Tai princess. Another insists he was Chinese.

The reach of Rama

The Tai kings were influenced by the Buddhism of Burmese kings and the Hinduism of Cambodian kings. So, the Thai polity is a mix of both ideas. Ram of Thailand, as in Cambodia, is a Bodhisattva. The Thai kings sought to be as regal as Ram and so built Ayutthaya to match his royal splendour. Royal court performances of the Ramayana reinforced their power, as did the Buddhist pagodas and temples, housing relics of royal family members and religious leaders.

But when this royal city was sacked, its treasures burnt, in 1765, it was history repeating itself. This had happened to their earlier capital of Sukhothai further north, prompting the shift to Ayutthaya. Now, it was time to move further south, where a new city would be established, on the banks of the Chao Phraya river that we now refer to as Bangkok. It is home to kings who continue to be referred to as Rama.

Easy like Sunday morning

Berty Ashley

Space and beyond!

Pushing the boundaries A view of planet Earth from a window of the International Space Station. (Getty Images/iStock) Elen11

1 Born this day in 1620, Jean Picard was a French astronomer who conducted an arc measurement survey in 1669 by measuring one degree of latitude along the Paris Meridian using triangulation along 13 triangles stretching from Paris to the clocktower of Sourdon. He became the first person to accurately measure what we now know is 51,00,72,000 km2. What did he measure?

2 At 02:56 Coordinated Universal Time in 1969, Mare Tranquillitatis (The Sea of Tranquillity) became an important part of human history. It is made up of mostly basalt and has a slight bluish tint due to higher metal content and was chosen because it is relatively level. What happened at this place 46 years ago?

3 On July 21, 2011, NASA’s 32-year-long Space Shuttle program ended with the landing of Space Shuttle OV-104 on mission STS-135 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The 135th and final Space Shuttle mission was to deliver a payload to the International Space Station (ISS). The shuttle was named after a research ship, which itself was named after a mythical lost continent. What was the name of the shuttle?

4 This planet takes 165 Earth years to complete one full orbit around the sun and was discovered by a bunch of astronomers on the night of September 23-24 in 1846, based on mathematical calculations. Which planet is this?

5 Soviet cosmologist Igor Novikov put forward the existence of a hypothetical object as part of a solution to one of Einstein field equations. It is a region of spacetime and singularity that cannot be entered from the outside, although energy-matter, light and information can escape from it. A reference to a more famous object that does the exact opposite, by what name are these known?

6 Assembling of the Interational Space Station involved a lot of mechanical work, such as welding, which would be easy on Earth, but close to impossible in space. In the vacuum of space, it’s difficult to control shielding gases or generate heat using traditional welding methods. In reality, if two surfaces of the same metal are brought close to each other and pressed, there is an exchange of electrons and they get fused. What is the name of this method?

7 The region of space in which a mass’ magnetic field dominates is known as its magnetosphere. Earth’s field stretches 64,000 kilometres. The largest and strongest field belongs to a planet whose sphere is so big it could engulf the sun. If it was visible it would actually be larger than the moon in our sky. Which planet is this?

8 Lucy is a star in the constellation of Centaurus. which was first thought to be a dim white dwarf but it subsequently turned out to be incredibly dense, with the mass of the Sun crammed into an object only a third the diameter of Earth. Astronomers were able to study the vibrations of the star and discovered the reason for its extremely dense core, hence naming it ‘Lucy’. What had the star’s carbon core crystallised into?

9 The time taken for this planet to revolve around the sun (on year on Earth) is only about 88 Earth days long. However, it has a very slow rotation around its own axis, hence each ‘day’ on this planet is 176 Earth days long. Which planet is this, where a day is twice as long as an year?

10 In 2009, astronomers were able to do a chemical analysis of the centre of the Milky Way and they discovered that there was a huge cloud of ethyl formate which slowly dispersed across the galaxy. This leads us to understand the prevalent smell and flavour of our solar system. What alliterative combination of a berry and a drink did astronomers use to describe the taste of the Milky Way?

A molecular biologist from Madurai, our quizmaster enjoys trivia and music, and is working on a rock ballad called ‘Coffee is a Drink, Kaapi is an Emotion’. @bertyashley

Strange places

Bob Jones

Both vulnerable, North deals

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Bridge is played all over the world, and played well. South in today’s deal was Hedin Mouritsen, from the Faroe Islands. An understandable slip by the defense gave him a chance and he took full advantage.

East could have defeated the contract by winning the ace of clubs at trick one and giving West a ruff. East’s club spots, however, convinced him that the defence would do at least as well by not winning the first club so he ducked the lead to Mouritsen’s king. Mouritsen led the queen of spades, which West had to duck or two clubs would be discarded on dummy’s high spades. West also ducked the king of diamonds, but he won the next diamond and shifted to a heart. Mouritsen rose with dummy’s ace and led the queen of hearts. East covered with the king and Mouritsen ruffed carefully with his four of diamonds, just to be sure that his plan would work.

Mouritsen cashed the 10 of diamonds and exited with his carefully preserved two of diamonds! West won with his eight but was helpless to defeat the contract. A heart and dummy would win as South shed a club. South would discard another club on the king of spades and West would be in the same trouble. West led the ace of spades, instead, but South simply discarded a club instead of ruffing. West had to put dummy on lead and Mouritsen discarded two more clubs on dummy’s winners. Very well played!

Anushtubh Prakash

From the soft pitter-patter to the booming thunderstorm, the rains traverse an entire spectrum across the subcontinent

The white fleece spins its way into dark wool and spreads upon the expanse of the blue sky. It begins to boom and not even the biggest bass can match its terrible tremors. As in the days gone by when trumpets and drums heralded the arrival of the king, this thunder heralds the arrival of the monsoon. Pitter-patter the raindrops fall and cool the thousands of hot heads below. The heat breaks, the breeze drapes a cold draught over itself and the leaves change into a darker shade of green.

Somewhere, a woman decides to make hot, sizzling pakodas to the delight of her children, while a couple of friends take shelter from the rain below the tarpaulin of their favourite snack cart. Farmers rejoice everywhere as raindrops soak the soil and give it a chance to flaunt its lush fertility. My grandmother, as was her wont, used to stand near the window and observe it all, a happy smile on her face.

And how beautiful is a monsoon by Bollywood? The setting for the flowering of a romance or perhaps just a celebration of love. A couple sheltering themselves in a single raincoat. Another couple just dancing their hearts out under drenching rain.

But rain is not the same everywhere. Spread across a large expanse, it rages in one part of town while the other may be dry. Thundering and rumbling, it fells large trees as if they were mere matchboxes. Lights go out, candles are brought in, a dark gloom settles. Nostalgia, achingly bittersweet memories creep up. All the things that one has ever lost are remembered, triggered by rain.

Devastating effect

Back in the villages, farmers scream horror as the crops that they had grown, ploughed, watered and planned for so many months, are trampled upon by the heavy hand of a vicious storm. Roadside dwellers hold onto their shanties for dear life. One wild whirlwind and it could sweep their whole home away. And then there are some who do not even have those, and their knees simply buckle under the force of nature as they surrender, sometimes with their life itself. The same Bollywood which has given us such iconic monsoon romances suddenly takes a dark turn. It becomes the harbinger of bad news, a symbol of an ill omen, the setting of something dramatic.

This is the duality of the monsoon. A season built on contrasts. Scorching heat giving way to cold rainfall. Dark clouds float with silver linings, and heavy storms are followed by streaking rainbows.

There is romance on one side and tragedy on the other. Little joys bloom here and heavy sorrows settle there. Someone sees new hope and someone sees impending doom. As the season falls upon us, this duality confronts and surrounds us yet again. The pendulum of emotions has begun its oscillations, the contrasts have begun a battle against each other, and a new chapter of life slowly unfolds in their wake.

Elders often boast of having seen more monsoons than we have. They have lived this contrast over and over again with all its ups and downs. Once you experience the monsoon deeply, you are not the same any more.

The monsoon is synonymous with change, growth, rebirth. You, too, have changed, grown and transformed. And though it may rain on all of us, the monsoon that we embrace, is very distinctly our own.

Himalayan experience

Gita Nambiar

The towering ranges bring a sense of tranquillity to the troubled mind

On a recent trip to Nepal, we got the opportunity to take the early-morning mountain flight. The one-hour flight takes off from the Kathmandu airport to the Himalayan mountain ranges, including Mount Everest. All passengers get window seats for a clear and close-up view. A few minutes after take-off, the pilot takes you to a height of over 20,000 feet. Then the mountains come into view. In a sea of snow-white clouds, these magnificent peaks rise tall and majestic, like sentinels of the sky. As the tour operators tell you, it’s a “once in a lifetime experience”.

The jagged, snow-covered mountains fill you with awe, reminding you that nature is indeed a manifestation of the almighty. A feeling of being at the top of the world! As the aircraft slowly traverses the length of the ranges, the cabin attendant tells you the names of the individual peaks — Gauri Shankar, Annapurna, Kanchenjunga and so on. And there, nestled between the Nuptse and Lhotse peaks is Everest. The peak that many vie to conquer, and have conquered in the past. It is also called Sagarmatha.

Many of these peaks have been named after Gods. When you interact with the local people, you can understand why. Their religious fervour and devotion, among the young and old alike, is unsurpassed. One can see why, from ancient times, the kings have built so many spectacular temples. The architecture is unique and the woodwork unbelievably intricate. The Buddhist shrines and stupas are equally elegant. Living in the vicinity of the towering mountains, people have an ingrained reverence for God and his creations. Nepal is also the birthplace of Lord Buddha, the embodiment of peace and serenity.

The people are friendly and you are accorded the best in hospitality. They are peace loving and believe in living in harmony with nature and with each other. The baser emotions are rarely expressed, possibly due to their spirituality and innate sense of humility.

The grandeur of the towering mountain ranges is a sight to behold and brings a sense of tranquillity even to the most troubled mind. When the mere sighting of Mount Everest gives such a feeling of immense satisfaction, it is easy to understand the exhilaration felt by those who actually climbed the mountain and conquered its peak.

Soldier and the train

Hari Arayammakul

Distant whistle of an engine evokes poignant thoughts of love and loss

A recent journey aboard a sleek carriage of a Vande Bharat Express stirred memories of countless train journeys. We soldiers had a special bond with Railways. The train was once the “umbilical cord” that connected soldiers to their roots with rickety coaches ferrying military men between the frontiers and their remote villages. For a soldier on a lonely patrol, the distant whistle of a midnight train evokes poignant thoughts of love, loss, and longing.

Unlike today’s trendy, swift coaches, second-class journeys were characterised by slow, meandering trips spanning several days. One did not really mind smoke and heat on the homeward trip, but it was the return leg that presented a formidable challenge. Once the journey commenced, the traveller’s world shrank to the confines of the snaking compartments, with virtually no communication with the outside world. Occasionally, a newspaper vendor would make an appearance, providing those eager for updates with a chance to purchase a copy.

As one traversed the long plains during the blistering North Indian summer, a compelling image often crossed the mind. “What if India had not been partitioned?” This was a fleeting thought emerging from a weary traveller, a reflection on the prospect of an even more protracted journey to the frontiers on the Durand Line, devoid of any ill intentions towards the mother nation.

Getting confirmation for the onward booking was a rare occurrence and it was a great relief to find a reserved seat, upon boarding the connecting train. Trains not only transported the soldiers but were also the conduits for precious tidings from their homes. The crimson-painted mail coaches carried postcards and inland letters. Messages from loved ones, scribbled on these missives, embarked on a journey that spanned weeks, passing through numerous hands and patiently waiting on platforms before finally reaching the soldier on the border. Whispers of gossip, clandestine love notes, updates on court cases, and the sombre announcements of death, all took days to reach their recipients.

What’s in a surname?

Suchanda Datta

In Shakespeare’s iconic play Romeo and Juliet, there is a famous line by Juliet: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” However, the reality is that names matter, especially when it comes to maiden names.

A maiden name is more than just a string of letters; rather, it symbolises one’s identity, inheritance, and background. It also symbolises the lineage. But marriage, for instance, causes this identity change greatly among women. Women usually cease using their surnames after they are married and often add their husband’s surname.

The idea of changing surnames after getting married can be traced back to a historical period where women were seen as extensions of men and their families. Therefore, this transformation indicated the new duties and rights they took in the marital home.

This practice has been followed by Indian women for many generations, sometimes willingly, but more often under societal pressure. Changing names is not just a personal decision that one makes; it is expected of someone in society.

The change of last name can have a profound psychological and social impact on women. When women are forced to discard their names, they might feel like losing themselves since they are being required to wipe away a part of their past.

This alteration affects professional identities. It may be difficult for women who made a career or built a reputation using their maiden names as they shift to another name identity.

A woman’s maiden name forms an essential aspect of her identity, representing her past and heritage. Over time, it is important to make sure that a woman has all the right to choose whether it will be better for her to preserve it, without imposing any pressures of judgment from society.

It’s just by giving such autonomy we can fully recognise a woman’s uniqueness and promote gender equality.

Akanksha Kamath

2024 seems to be the year museums are making room for the narratives of misunderstood women — from Yoko Ono and Naomi Campbell, to Salvador Dalí’s wife and muse

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2 of 13 A worthy rewrite (Clockwise from far left) Gala Dalí; a sailor style shirt from the 1950s displayed at Púbol castle; installation view of Helmets; Yoko Ono’s Fly; the multimedia artist with a glass hammer; Vivienne Westwood shoes that Naomi Campbell fell over wearing; the supermodel at the V&A; a 1935 Elsa Schiaparelli evening coat from Gala’s archival collection; a 1949 Christian Dior outfit; and one of illustrator Carla Fuentes’ paintings at La Roca Village. (Horst P. Horst, Jordi Bernadó, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Yoko Ono, Marco Bahler and Alba Ricart)

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In Púbol, north of Barcelona, a castle sits atop a hill. With vines sinuously wrapped around its brick walls and surreal architecture, it belongs to Gala Dalí, the wife of surrealist painter Salvador Dalí. It was bought as a gift in 1969 and she lived there undisturbed — rumour claims that even her husband was not allowed to enter without her written permission. She spent the latter part of her enigmatic life writing an unfinished book, probably about her own polarising perceptions. The woman, who was despised by French poet André Breton (he saw her as a rival), and loathed by Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel — who apparently once tried to strangle her, having had enough of her “insults” — was a victim of her times, vilified and condemned by exclusionary men gatekeeping the echelons of creativity and elite society.

Now, her home and archival outfits from her wardrobe, designed by the likes of Gabrielle Chanel, Givenchy, and Christian Dior, have been excavated to bring to light a lesser known aspect of her personality: the PR machinery she built around her surrealist artist husband. “She was a mastermind,” says Noelia Collado, co-curator of The Awakening of the Myth: Gala Dalí exhibition, which spreads across the castle and La Roca Village, one of Bicester Collection’s luxury retail hotspots, till January 2025. “She designed the image she wanted to portray of them to the world, down to what Dalí wore. They created fashion statements wherever they went.” A dress featuring a trompe-l’oeil print designed by couturier Elsa Schiaparelli and Salvador Dalí in collaboration, was first worn and promoted by Gala; today it is part of the exhibition.

As I roamed the temperature-controlled top floor of the castle, wrapped in stories of how Gala was misunderstood in her time, another renegade woman with a murky past flickered to mind. Decades apart, artist Yoko Ono in England was a female figure flogged by the British public for breaking up the band, The Beatles. Deemed ‘dragon lady’ in the tabloid press, made fun of for her accent, called a ‘nip’, ‘Chink’ and ‘Jap’ by the public, and presciently anointed “the world’s most famous unknown artist” by her famous husband, John Lennon, years later, at the age of 91, her work is being venerated at the Tate Modern in London with the exhibition Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind.

Could 2024 then be the year we rewrite the redemption arc of misunderstood women of the past?

Museums’ modus operandi

“I think museums have to respond to society,” states Isabella Coraça, a lecturer on fashion history and theory at Central Saint Martins (University of the Arts London) and former curator for the British Museum. “We are going through a big period of social change and, hopefully, social justice. And not just in terms of feminism, but also in terms of sexual politics or identity politics. Museums are picking up on that and participating in those discourses through exhibitions.”

But it’s also a matter of making money. “At a time when public funding has diminished quite a lot in the last decade or so, museums rely on what we call blockbuster exhibitions,” explains Coraça. “Exhibitions that touch a nerve in audiences, either because they’re responding to something that society is grappling with or that’s always caught people’s interest — usually celebrities.” Be it fashion designers Mary Quant and Gabrielle Chanel, or singer-songwriter Taylor Swift — the American performer’s in-concert wardrobe is going on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London this month — the bold female persona with a sensational storyline has become fodder for museums.

And it’s working. “It’s our fascination with these strong women that reels us in,” says Carrie Scott, art historian and founder of Seen.art, a broadcast channel and art consultancy that demystifies the world of art. “We’re all curious to see what the fuss was all about. So, it’s really smart of exhibitions to show women who are polarising or ‘difficult’ because it makes us show up.”

Flipping the script

Meanwhile, at the V&A, in the exhibition Naomi: In Fashion, a video of the supermodel’s fall during a 1993 Vivienne Westwood show is not a shy addition, but something that humanises Campbell beyond her Amazonian fashion image. She falls, she gets up, she smiles. The fallibility of being human once again simmers to the top when a video of the English model leaving community service at the New York City Sanitation Department plays. The punishment for misdemeanour (in a fit of anger in the early aughts, she had thrown a phone at an employee) was a low point, but ever the clever communicator, she used her entries and exits from the department as a catwalk, using clothes to send a larger message to the public and the industry.

“It was important to address the pressure that came with being in the limelight and how she chose to address that moment. She decided to use fashion as a tool,” says curator Sonnet Stanfill, who interviewed Campbell for 18 months in the lead-up to the exhibition (on till April 2025) that celebrates her creative collaborations, activism and cultural impact through the work of leading global designers and photographers. “On the last day of community service, she wore a Swarovski crystal-encrusted Dolce & Gabbana evening dress. The belt is a big metal corset that is fastened with a lock and key — a nod perhaps to her court experience. It’s on display at the V&A.”

The exhibitions beg the question: what is the definition of a “difficult”, “infamous”, or in the words of a convicted former POTUS, “nasty” woman? “If you ask for what you want and you aren’t considered important enough, you are deemed ‘difficult’,” says Zahra Khan, founder of Art Divvy, a platform aiming to expand South Asian art’s global reach. “To get to the rooms or circles these women occupied, they would’ve had to be difficult.” Campbell was teaching make-up artists how to work with black skin tones; Yoko Ono didn’t break up the Beatles. “No one woman is that powerful. But these women get used as scapegoats time and time again. We all know Naomi’s reputation. Is it fair? I doubt it. Did she lose her temper once? Yes. Maybe even twice. How often is a man seen screaming in a boardroom or throwing a tantrum?” asks Scott.

A modern resonance

Through a re-examination using context, the lens of passing time, and a modern audience ready to get to know these women again, the finer details of their stories are coming to the fore. Plucking Gala out of the shadows and placing her in popular culture via a collaboration with illustrator Carla Fuentes is both clever and captivating. At La Roca Village, hand-drawn paintings cover the walls, portraying a 2024 iteration of Gala as a modern-day influencer. In one, she is sprawled on a deck chair, margarita in one hand and camera selfie-ready in the other.

Meanwhile, Jordi Bernadó’s photographs, also part of the exhibition, contextualise Gala in her space. A Christian Dior two-piece couture paillette outfit is cheekily brought into the castle’s kitchen. She wore it dancing with a key government aid in America. The image questions gender norms that existed in her time, ones that she certainly did not adhere to.

Similarly, in Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind (on till September), the artist’s work is separated from her relationship with Lennon. “Her activism for peace feels incredibly urgent in the state of the world right now,” says Catharine Wood, director of exhibitions and programmes at Tate Modern on why the exhibition is gaining momentum. The younger generation is seeing her as an artist in her own right. Through letter writing, instructive art, performance, and interactive pieces, she’s gaining popularity among a new generation.

Cogs in the wheel

Museums, however, for the cultural centres that they are, are also soft power for larger political systems. “Even if a curator has the ambition to do a feminist exhibition, usually there will be other forces playing in the background that might subdue those messages,” Coraça reminds me.

Would I have wanted to see a wall of shame dedicated to the tabloid press for the explicit misogyny and xenophobia they subjected Yoko Ono to in the ’70s? Yes. Would I have wanted to see more of Campbell’s personality shine through rather than a manufactured image of someone placed on a pedestal? Perhaps. Do I wish Gala’s story was more prolifically known and that the next Met Gala theme was dedicated to her legend? Hell, yes.

For now though, I’m just really trying to get to know these women, and god, they were great.

The writer is an independent journalist based in London, writing on fashion, luxury and lifestyle.

SM/SM

- Snorkelling with wily seahorses

- Takeaways from the IT wedding

- green Humour

Janaki Lenin

How a luxury resort in Mauritius is reacquainting guests and locals with the horse-faced fish, and contributing to its protection

1 of 4 Masters of disguise (Clockwise from below) Seahorse Anahita; Four Seasons Resort Mauritius; and the spiny seahorse. (Bernardo Nascimento, Special arrangement)

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How did the seahorse pull off its ruse? I blink with disbelief. Until Rick-Ernest Bonnier, the Four Seasons Mauritius’ ocean environment manager, pointed it out, it had pretended to be part of a marine sponge. I circle back, peering at the spike-covered creature through the snorkel mask. My eyesight must be getting worse because its S-shaped body doesn’t bear any resemblance to the cup-shaped protuberances of the sponge to which it had attached itself.

You must see the 10-cm horse-faced fish in its natural habitat to believe its magical ability to vanish in plain sight. My problem was, like most people who have seen seahorses in aquariums, I recognise them by their profile. Here, it would have to lie on its side in the sand for me to see it. And they aren’t cooperative like that!

I spend a few more seconds gazing at this toy-come-to-life, as it sways with the tidal current. Then I kick my fins to catch up with the turbulence of Bonnier’s wake. Below me spreads the underwater scape of the sandy lagoon with columns of Sargassum seagrass, an assortment of algae, and the occasional stand of Acropora coral. Within minutes, he wheels around and vigorously points to a coral. I look closely around the edges. Nothing. Is it hiding in the middle of the coral, among the straight pointed limbs? No. Where is the blasted seahorse?

Glancing up at Bonnier’s masked face, I wave my outstretched palm sideways gesturing ‘where’. He dives until his forefinger hovers a foot above the creature and, miraculously, the fish stands out from the background. Somehow, its curvy body has become one with the angular coral.

A few minutes later, we pause, standing in the shallows with our masks riding above our foreheads. “How do you spot them? What’s your search image?” I ask. “The tops of their heads,” he replies.

We resume our leisurely ‘seahorse safari’, our faces below the water’s surface. Even after Bonnier points them out, I can’t immediately see the crowns of the four subsequent seahorses.

Pregnant dads and

moonlit births

On the beach an hour later, stepping out of my fins and shivering in the wetsuit in the Southern Hemisphere’s winter, I am elated to have finally seen these bony fish. In preparation for the trip, I had read up on the fascinating creatures. One of those ‘Did you know’ realisations was: adult male seahorses are pregnant all their lives. The female deposits eggs in his kangaroo-like pouch where the babies hatch and grow, the gestation period varying with species, until they are ready for life in the open sea. On a full moon night, the father goes into labour, spewing out hundreds of babies from his spasming body. Later that same night, the female returns to lay more eggs. And so the cycle resumes.

While most fish use their tails to get around, seahorses use theirs to stay put, their grasping tails latching on to algae, seagrass or coral. They ineffectively propel themselves with small fins on their back and the sides of their head. So, the chances of seeing one again in the same vicinity are high — if you can see through their disguise.

Most people assume that you need to dive to spot seahorses. The two species along the Anahita coast, the thorny seahorse and the common seahorse, live in waters so shallow that you have to time your snorkelling trip with the high tide. This surprises visitors, just as it did Bonnier when he first spotted a crusty millipede shape in the sand. He had snapped a photo and, not trusting his own judgment, sent the image to experts for confirmation.

Under threat everywhere

Seahorse populations are diminishing across the world, with the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) listing the approximately 50 species as near threatened, and two — the Knysna or Cape seahorse from South Africa and White’s seahorse of Australia — as endangered. Habitat destruction, pollution, and unsustainable fishing practices have all contributed to the dwindling numbers. As has illegal trade, driven by traditional Chinese medicine that claims it helps with potency disorders, asthma and pain.

“What surprised me was that Anahita is one of the few places around Mauritius where a well-established population [of seahorses] still exists,” says Bernardo Nascimento, curator and head educator at Odysseo Oceanarium in Port Louis, the country’s capital. It helps that the area is clean, doesn’t have a lot of tourists or fishing, and the plants and animals that the fish rely on for cover and prey are in good health.

Learning from the dodo

The mangroves and sandy beaches of the Four Seasons wrap around the estuary of the Grand River South East, on the east coast of Mauritius. They lie within the approximately 6 sq.km. Trou d’Eau Douce Fishing Reserve where industrial fishing is prohibited, allowing marine species to thrive.

Guests who can afford to stay at the luxury resort aren’t the only beneficiaries of these riches. On low occupancy days, Bonnier and his team bring school children from across the island for a day of nature walks and snorkelling. With the shadow of the dodo, the international emblem of man-caused extinction, hanging over their heritage, most Mauritians are already aware of the urgency of conservation.

The resort grounds host a wealth of plant, animal and bird life. Mauritian fruit bats roost on the avenues of banyan trees, and jewel-like geckos dart among the fronds of the blue latania palm trees. Beside the spa is a plant nursery for species native to the island. Many of them are pretty with red leaf margins and stems, an evolutionary defence against the island’s native herbivores, the now-extinct giant tortoises. Bonnier hopes to slowly replace the common flowering plants and trees in the gardens with these.

Taking guests to see these fish is just the first step in a long-term programme. In the next stage, Bonnier plans to collaborate with the Odysseo Oceanarium to survey the Anahita stretch, identify individual animals, study their behaviour, and perhaps even create a nursery for the ‘sea-foals’.

The day after my encounter with the seahorses, Bonnier took a family with two young children out into the lagoon and showed them three red juveniles within 30 minutes. Even though they froze in the water, the kids were thrilled by the experience. The next day they asked Bonnier, “Can we go see the seahorses again?”

The writer’s latest book, co-authored with Romulus Whitaker, is Snakes, Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll.

The wedding that kept giving

It wasn’t aspirational but there was something about the opulence of the Ambani wedding that had many of us transfixed to the proceedings

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2 of 2

The biggest, fattest Indian wedding ever has been a humbling experience. At first, I affected an air of studied disdain for the naked opulence of the Anant Ambani-Radhika Merchant wedding extravaganza.

A journalist friend messaged from abroad to ask if I was following the wedding. I replied snootily, “Trying hard to avoid it.”

I had forgotten what Oscar Wilde had written. “Never speak disrespectfully of Society, Algernon. Only people who can’t get into it, do that.”

Part of my weariness stemmed from the fact that the wedding seemed to be without end. As Subham Chaudhuri, the popular Bengali comedy content creator @bong_short, said in a video: “This is like the soul that lives on endlessly… People’s semesters end, the entire T-20 World Cup ends, Euro Cup ends, Copa America ends, Ronaldo’s form ends but the Ambani wedding never ends.” Some remarked that the wedding, like the groom’s name, is anant — without an end. Clearly nothing succeeds like excess.

“Will you talk about the incongruity of it all on air?” asked my journalist friend. I hastily brushed up on facts and figures — the Ambanis’ net worth, the number of carats in one of the diamond necklaces, the VVIP guest list as well as India’s wealth gap and social indices. During the pre-wedding hoopla, Swati Narayan, author of Unequal: Why India Lags Behind its Neighbours (2023), said in an interview that the “inequality in India is the worst that it’s been since the days of the British Raj” and the “entire bottom half of India’s population has to survive on 6% of the country’s wealth”. But many also felt the richest man in India had the right to spend his money any way he wanted.

The Windsors of India

For Indians, a fairytale wedding had once meant Prince Charles marrying Lady Diana in London. Now, a Guardian headline read: ‘Ambani wedding: After months of celebrations, the “Windsors” of India finally set to marry’. But with a price tag estimated at $600 million, the Windsors probably cannot afford a wedding like that any more.

As I scrolled through the wedding and pre-wedding videos on Instagram in the name of research, I realised that white people, especially men, still look extremely uncomfortable in Indian regalia. Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, all looked like they had wandered out of a Halloween party, stiff cutouts in Maharaja costumes. Also, thanks to the wedding, I learnt who John Cena was. Actor and wrestler and wedding guest. Cena too looked awkward as he tried out his Bollywood moves in his blue outfit with roses on his shoulders. I count that as a moment of post-colonial revenge.

Indian celebs can carry off western suits and gowns with aplomb these days. But the white people are tiptoeing around Indian culture nervously, hoping they are not making an utter fool of themselves. Generations of Indian immigrants who were once mocked as they tried to navigate western culture must be chuckling quietly. The First World-ers were now part of the backdrop for our Monsoon Wedding, the extras adding exotic colour but completely out-jewelled by the locals.

Guilty pleasure

In fact, the wedding was a guilty pleasure that kept giving. Many of us played spot-the-celeb. Friends gossiped excitedly about who was in the Bachchan family photo and who was not. Mamata Banerjee and Kim Kardashian were captured in the same frame while Baba Ramdev did a jig. Some of us gaped. Some guffawed. Some made hilarious memes and reels. Many just rolled their eyes and then scrolled some more. It wasn’t aspirational because it was so utterly over the top but it clearly fed some primal need in many of us like a junk food fix. It was our big fat virtual tub of caramel and cheese popcorn while the wedding guests had their Zucchini and Asparagus Tirodito and Extreme Altitude seeds.

Best of all, I even got a surprise gift. Not an Audemars Piguet (I had to Google what that was)as the groomsmen did. I discovered that John Cena and I follow each other on X. I have no idea how that happened. I don’t recall following him. He, with 14.3 million followers, has absolutely no reason to follow me.

Another journalist also posted a screenshot saying she too had discovered to her astonishment that Cena followed her. A columnist friend said aggrievedly, “He’s still not following me. Now I’m feeling slighted.” I felt a mild sense of having arrived somewhere in some petty pecking order.

However, the radio interview about the incongruity of the biggest fattest Indian wedding never happened. I was bumped by a bona fide celebrity who, unlike me, had actually been invited to the wedding.

So I just sidled off to the market to buy provisions to cook myself dinner. My menu was humble pie. But, at least, I still had John Cena.

Rohan Chakravarty

Table of Contents

The Hindu

National

Bangladesh deploys Army as unrest toll rises to 123

Top-scoring NEET centres clustered in Rajasthan’s Sikar

Airline systems working normally after global IT outage, says Aviation Minister

Trump speaks with Zelenskyy, says he will ‘end war’, bring ‘peace to the world’

978 Indian students safely evacuated

29 admitted to hospital due to gas leak in Thoothukudi

Two different income tests to decide creamy layer among OBC candidates

DoPT denies service allocation to scientist with muscular dystrophy who cleared UPSC exam

CBI arrests alleged mastermind behind NEET-UG paper leak

‘Left has critical role in creating a Second Republic of India’

Opposition attacks govt. over UPSC chairperson’s resignation

After heavy rainfall, inflow into KRS rises to 60,000 cusecs

Five from Jamtara convicted of money laundering

Kerala Minister seeks ₹24,000-cr. special package from Centre

Chargesheet filed against 10 accused in extortion case

‘BJP will issue White Paper on Jharkhand population’

Mamata invites Akhilesh to take part in Trinamool’s Martyrs’ Day rally

Army chief attends security meeting in Jammu amid increase in militant attacks

UPSC aspirants gain expert insights at summit held by Unacademy and The Hindu

Karnataka High Court drops rape charge against man after allowing him to marry ‘victim’

AAP announces five guarantees ahead of Haryana elections

INDIA bloc organises march against rising crime in Bihar

ED arrests Haryana Cong. MLA in illegal mining case

AAP leader moves HC against BJP MP’s election

BJP MLA calls for U.P.-like name display order in M.P.

Centre rejects study that claims 11.9 lakh excess deaths during pandemic

Compressed three-in-one social science book for Class 6

Muslims back in Purola, with wounds of a hounding over a kidnap that never happened

CPCB plans to check violations in plastic waste trading regime

Mizo woman who killed a tiger with an axe dies at 72

Union govt. reviews AES, Chandipura virus situation

BSF officer, jawan dies from extreme heat during patrol

Woman killed in balcony collapse during Mumbai rain

India to consider providing ₹1,500 crore to Bhutan

All things huge: jumbos, feast and the crowd

Trump’s heir apparent

A digital storm

Spring of the patriarch

Regional

NTA has derailed our plans for the future, say small-town students with big dreams

Boy infected with Nipah critical; health protocol put into place in Kerala

BJD, BJP spar after Odisha govt. drops Biju Patnaik’s name from sports award

Opposition leaders slam order for eateries to display name plates on Kanwar Yatra route

ED makes third arrest in REET paper leak case

Fire on cargo ship off Karwar under control: Coast Guard

CBI moves HC against order letting Indrani travel abroad

Jharkhand police use tear gas on teachers demanding raise

As women favour period leave, many call for looking beyond policy

A hole in Delhi’s green lung

Edit

What is the gender gap in education?

Will local job quotas pass the legal test?

What are the rules for IAS probationers?

Science

Prevalence of NCDs tripled, infectious diseases doubled

Rise and shine: morning sunlight and your wellbeing

Animals acquire genes from bacteria that can produce antibiotics

Zika infection

Rising antimalarial resistance in Africa needs urgent action

Spitting cobra venom reveals a promising antivenom

Pig lung transplants can survive sans immune suppression

Business

Anticipated allocations around personal taxation from Budget

HDFC Bank Q1 profit climbs 35%

SME IPOs still on boil despite SEBI caution

‘We aim to be among the top 50 logistics firms worldwide’

Chemplast sees surge in revenue via CMCD

Tea industry seeks higher RoDTEP rates

TII arms set to unveil e-rickshaws, e-bikes

JK Cement Q1 net profit surges 67% to ₹184.82 crore

Union Bank Q1 net rises to ₹3,679 cr.; flags margin issue

Kotak bank Q1 net up 79% on stake sale in insurance arm

Yes Bank Q1 PAT surges 47% to ₹502 cr., NII rises 12%, NPAs dip

RBL Bank Q1 net rises 29% to ₹372 crore, NPAs slide

Foreign

Israeli jets strike Houthi targets in Yemen ‘in response to attacks’

Keeping up tradition

Probe sought into reporter’s death in Bangladesh unrest

6 dead, 3 injured as Russia continues Ukraine strikes

Myanmar’s civil war sees a devastating increase in attacks on schools, report finds

Police injured in fresh Dublin anti-immigration riot

13 Palestinians, including three children, killed in central Gaza

Drone strike damages ship off Yemen: UK agency

Turkiye’s Erdogan says ‘no benefit’ in resuming UN-led Cyprus talks

11 dead and dozens missing after a highway bridge in China crumbles in flooding and heavy storms

EU Middle East envoy vows to push for two-state solution

Sports

Paes, Amritraj and a walk down memory lane

India has semifinal spot in its sights as it takes on UAE

Lowry pegged back as Horschel, Brown move into share of lead

Duckett, Brook help England take a sizeable lead against the West Indies

Norris on pole as McLaren locks out Hungarian Grand Prix front row

Pogacar clinches penultimate stage, Vingegaard second

Nayar and ten Doeschate set to join Indian team in Sri Lanka

Thailand gets the better of Malaysia in a low-scoring match

Sri Lanka defeats Bangladesh by seven wickets

I want to compete freely and win the best tournament of my life: Tarundeep

Indumathi and Chhangte get AIFF Player of the Year Awards

Marquez succeeds Stimac as head coach of Indian men’s footballteam

Akhil cashes in on Pariat’s mistake in Formula 2000 race

Nadal reaches Bastad Open final

Sahaja loses thriller in singles; makes the doubles final

Preparations for the Olympics move up a gear

India archery, rowing teams check in at Games Village

Indian girls assured of last-eight spot

Snooker legend Reardon passes away

Tyler Adams to miss start of Premier League season

SM

Road to skateboarding glory

Why Prayaag Akbar is less angry and more worried now

The baffling case of Rachel Cusk

‘Gujarat was the laboratory for today’s India’

State of the nation

The other Ayodhya

Easy like Sunday morning

Strange places

The many moods of the monsoon

Himalayan experience

Soldier and the train

What’s in a surname?

Gala Dalí In the company of ‘difficult’ women

SM/SM

Snorkelling with wily seahorses

Takeaways from the IT wedding

green Humour